Ex-AEW Star Claims CM Punk Blocked Planned TV Appearance
How much creative influence did CM Punk have over AEW Collision?
Despite the well-documented bust-up and physical altercation that followed All Out 2022, CM Punk was front and center when Collision was launched in June 2023.
The star was made the centerpiece of the show, and it was used as a way to keep him away from The Elite, whom he had clashed with previously.
This was followed by reports that CM Punk had blocked Christopher Daniels from attending Collision, despite the veteran being the company’s Head of Talent Relations. There were also suggestions that he had other stars, including Matt Hardy, Ryan Nemeth, and “Hangman” Adam Page, kept away from the show.
Matt Hardy Thinks CM Punk Blocked AEW Appearance
On the latest edition of his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the now-TNA star looked back on his time with AEW, and one “unprofessional” incident in particular.
Hardy recalled that after a conversation with Tony Khan, it was decided that he would stay on the road for the second night of tapings in Canada after already attending Dynamite that Wednesday. On Collision, 24 hours later, Ethan Page was due to wrestle, and it was agreed that Hardy would be in his corner.
“I talk with Tony, and Tony’s like, ‘Yes, I want you tomorrow, be out in the corner with Ethan. I definitely want you there.”
As a result, Hardy said he changed his flight and other travel arrangements so that he could stay for the additional taping. However, just hours later, he was informed that he wouldn’t be needed.
“They say, ‘Just heard that you’re not needed for tomorrow’s event. I was like, ‘What do you mean I’m not needed? I just talked to Tony three hours ago, and he said I’m in and he was excited.’”
Given Punk’s widely acknowledged creative influence over Collision, Hardy believes that he was the one who stepped in to force the change.
“I don’t have this on authority, so I don’t know, but like, someone stopped that from happening, and there’s only, I couldn’t imagine, it’s someone besides Punk, because Punk was going to be there. That was his show, right?”
As a result of the last-minute change, Hardy didn’t manage to get home until 3 am the following day. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t happy with how everything unfolded.
“That f—ing that, that that bothered me. So there’s, there’s sometimes to where, especially there in the AEW relationship, where he was in such Tony’s ear, and did whatever you want to do, and that ended up kind of being problematic,”
CM Punk was ultimately fired by AEW in September 2023 thanks to an incident that had its roots in a disagreement on Collision. Punk made it clear that he didn’t want Jack Perry to use real glass in a backstage segment on the show, which sparked an argument between the pair.
Fast forward to All In, and Perry took a very public jab at Punk during his match with Hook, loudly saying down the camera, “Cry me a river,” as he used real glass during the bout. This led to a scuffle backstage at Wembley, and days later, Punk was fired.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co