AEW Reportedly Said That They Will “Never Work With” CM Punk

In July, CM Punk made some pretty negative comments towards AEW in an interview with ESPN.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, following the interview, people in AEW felt “very disrespected” by Punk and told Meltzer that they “will never work with CM Punk.” Meltzer said that they seemed to really believe that at the time, but things can always change.

In the ESPN interview, Punk said that AEW made him an offer to join the company, but talked pretty flippantly about them.

ESPN: When you do Starrcast, right or wrong, there is an implied relationship with AEW. Do you have any relationship with AEW?

CM Punk: No. I know they like to talk about me a lot. If I text Matt Jackson, “Hey, have a great show tonight,” which I did when they had their big show in Vegas, that somehow turns into Tony Khan telling people he has a great relationship with me. I’ve said in the past I’ve talked to them, but nothing ever came of anything.

ESPN: When you decided to do Starrcast, did you go over in your mind, like, “I’m going to get a thousand questions about AEW.”

CM Punk: Oh yeah, you’ve gotta brace yourself for it. It’s not even AEW. I’m gonna get a thousand questions about WWE. It comes with the territory.

ESPN: Do you feel like there’s an expectation from fans that you’re going to show up at AEW’s show, at All Out?

CM Punk: I think if there’s an expectation, it’s purely been built by them. My silence to some fans means something. They’re trying to read the tea leaves, but there’s nothing to read. I even feel like talking about it may feel like I’m putting some sort of negative slant on it, but I’m really not. The fact is I know they’ve teased me ad nauseam, and if anybody is gonna get mad it’s at me because I don’t show up. Well then, I don’t know what to tell you. That’s one of those things that’s none of my business.

ESPN: When you say they’ve teased you, what do you mean by that?

CM Punk: They do videos where they talk about me. They’re constantly talking about me in the media. And again, maybe this sounds like I’m badgering them, but I’m not. It’s just something that happens. I’m a popular guy to talk about. But I’m not doing interviews talking about them. If people ask me about it, I say no, I won’t be there.

ESPN: Just to be completely clear, there’s nothing imminent?

CM Punk: The last thing I got — I got a text from Cody [Rhodes]. And again, I almost don’t even know how to reply to them sometimes, because if I reply, they do interviews and are like, “Oh yeah, I just talked to Punk.” I’m kind of damned if I do, damned if I don’t. I always think if somebody wants to do business with me, they can come talk to me. Texting offers isn’t really a way to do good business, at least.

ESPN: Was it an offer via text?

CM Punk: It was texted through three people and an offer came in through text. This is like a month ago, maybe.

ESPN: An offer for All Out?

CM Punk: I think it was just a general offer. I never could have done the last one in Vegas [Double or Nothing], because I was in California for CFFC.

Following the interview, Cody Rhodes said on Twitter, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to WWE.”

And it looks like Cody may have been right. Punk had a tryout for the “WWE Backstage” FS1 studio show earlier this week, so we may see him on that show soon.

There are also people in WWE that feel that Punk wants to wrestle in WWE again, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio. Punk reportedly feels that he’d be able to make the most money in WWE for the amount of dates, with Meltzer speculating that he’d want a Brock Lesnar/Goldberg type of deal with limited appearances.