More on CM Punk’s Backstage Issues with Several Talents at Collision Shows & Backstage Reaction

As noted before, CM Punk gave an unplanned shoot promo directed towards Hangman Adam Page following this past Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Greensboro, North Carolina. Several AEW talents were recently sent home from Collision tapings due to backstage issues believed to be related to CM Punk and Punk was recently involved in a backstage argument incident with Jack Perry.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the backstage incidents involving CM Punk’s issues with Matt Hardy and AEW Head of Talent Relations and wrestler Christopher Daniels were mostly kept quiet within AEW until news of it became public. In regards to Hardy, Meltzer reported that many within the company were not happy over Hardy’s removal from Collision bookings but also only speculated that it was related to Punk. In regards to Daniels, Meltzer reported that many within the company likely were not even aware that Daniels was banned from Collision due to Punk’s issues about Daniels being allowed to work backstage and not Ace Steel as well due to Daniels’ involvement in the infamous All Out backstage brawl.

In regards to the backstage reaction over Punk’s recent incidents, Meltzer reported that while AEW’s locker room in general is harmonious, several have grown tired of the issues between Punk and The Elite not being fully resolved since Punk’s return. Several talents spoken to reportedly currently feeling that unless things are handled now, there is a real risk of things getting far worse in the future. Meltzer reported that this feeling is mainly directed towards Punk and not also those close to him like FTR, who reportedly had cleared the air with the Elite some time ago. Meltzer reported that when AEW CEO Tony Khan suggested a match between the Young Bucks and FTR at All In, both sides quickly agreed to it.

Meltzer reported that one big source of contention by many within AEW revolved around Punk’s recent interview with ESPN prior to his official return to the company this past June. Meltzer reported that many people were more upset over the contents of the interview that were not included in the final version and Punk going public about his issues with Hangman Adam Page. Those within AEW reportedly felt that it went against the idea of everyone trying to put everything in the past and keep the issues quiet.

In regards to Punk’s backstage confrontation with Ryan Nemeth on the June 21st Dynamite show, Meltzer reported that while Nemeth’s tweet never specifically mentioned Punk, Punk felt that it was directed right at him and nobody close to the situation denied it nor Nemeth himself when confronted by Punk.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that Punk was aggressive when he had confronted Nemeth backstage with one person describing it as “ranting like a mad man” while another person close to Punk described it more as just “Punk handling business like a man and that all was taken care of and things were settled.” Punk reportedly continued to yell at Nemeth following them taking their argument to the hallway and Nemeth responded saying that he did it in character since he portrays a dickhead, a bad guy and Punk is the babyface coming back. This reportedly led to Punk responding stating that this was not a good look and also not a good time for that. This heated argument reportedly ended following Punk telling Nemeth to not tweet it and both guys shook hands and left. Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that they felt the issue between the two had been settled.

In regards to Nemeth’s lack of bookings in AEW since that incident, Meltzer reported that this was more of a case of Nemeth being more of a regular for AEW’s former Dark and Dark Elevation shows and less due to issues related to Punk. Meltzer reported that Nemeth had rarely been used for AEW television and was among those who had seen a drop in work in AEW following the end of Dark and Dark Elevation.

In regards to Nemeth being pulled from his scheduled booking at the August 12th Collision show, Meltzer reported that those spoken to gave different stories than what PWTorch’s Wade Keller had reported from his own sources. Those spoken to reportedly stated that this incident actually originally took place at a hotel AEW talent were staying in and Punk noticed Nemeth was with them. Some of those spoken to reportedly stated that Punk had told Nemeth to not come to the show while others spoken to stated that it was AEW management who had told him to not come after getting a text from Punk. Both stories reportedly included Punk taking credit for Nemeth’s removal from the show. Meltzer reported that some of those spoken to stated that there was no confrontation between the two at the hotel and they just simply saw each other and went their own way. Others spoken to stated that there was also no confrontation between the two but because Nemeth did not offer a handshake, Punk had felt some disrespect.

In regards to the incident involving Hangman Adam Page being removed from the venue during last week’s Collision show, Meltzer reported that Page was told that the reason why AEW officials did not want him to come inside the venue for his pre-tape segment was “to keep the peace.” Several of those spoken to reportedly stated that this was due to issues involving Punk while others denied that to be the case. One person spoken to reportedly stated that Punk was not even aware that Page would be in Greensboro nor had requested for Page to be removed from the venue. Meltzer reported that Page’s removal from the venue was not a topic of conversation backstage when it happened but did become one the following day after people had found out Page had been booked for the show only to be told to not come inside.

In regards to the backstage argument involving Jack Perry, Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that this issue with Punk was quickly settled and was not a big deal at the time backstage. Meltzer reported that there had been some talk within the company about Perry liking a tweet that was negative about Punk following the incident.

Meltzer reported that Punk was also recently involved in another incident involving Dana Massie, who is head of AEW merchandise. This incident reportedly revolved around Punk posting a photo of a shirt for ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023 on Instagram that listed the wrong date for the show. Meltzer reported that this mistake was discovered quickly and had been corrected long before the show took place nor were any shirts with the wrong date had been sold. Several of those within AEW viewed this as a shot at Massie, who is also the wife of Matt Jackson.

Meltzer also reported that his sources confirmed Keller’s report that Tony Khan had stood up in Gorilla Position with his headset on and started doing “a ‘C.M. Punk’ chant and pumping his arms over his head” during Punk’s entrance on the June 21st Dynamite show in Chicago. Following Khan’s actions, many top talent reportedly had felt that it was in their best interest to keep quiet about anything involving Punk because it would be a fight that served no purpose to get involved in. Several talent reportedly were unhappy over Khan’s actions since they felt things were going down unchecked and feared it would become worse over time.

In regards to Punk’s post-show speech to the crowd following last week’s Collision show, Meltzer reported that Punk’s line of “I’m the heart, I am the soul. I am the spirit” was a direct reference to Matt Hardy, Bryan Danielson, and Mark Henry using that line before to describe the importance of the Elite, Jon Moxley, and Chris Jericho in the company.