Former AEW Star Speaks Out On Ex-Boyfriend CM Punk

CM Punk is thriving in WWE at the moment. Fans have been ecstatic since the moment he returned at Survivor Series 2023, and the fandom is hoping that his wife, AJ Lee, will return at some point in the future.

The Best in the World interacted with AJ Lee professionally in 2012, started dating in 2013, and tied the knot in 2014.

Prior to that, CM Punk and Maria Kanellis shared history back in WWE’s mid-2000s era. Off-camera, the duo were known to be friends, and rumors of a real-life relationship also made its way through the industry.

Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, Kanellis and Punk continued to be on good terms.

Maria Kanellis believes CM Punk “changed wrestling”

Kanellis and Punk’s relationship supposedly started sometime in 2005 and ended in 2006. Even though the relationship did not work out, Kanellis still holds him in high regard.

During her time on a live in-studio sighing with Signed by Superstars, she credited Punk with changing wrestling and enabling others to have the confidence to do the unthinkable.

I think that he is the person that changed wrestling. You know, because he wasn’t afraid of doing it his way, and I think that that gave a lot of people the confidence to do the unthinkable, like be an independent wrestler and come into WWE. It changed the business; he changed the entire industry, and you can build companies off of him.

Currently, CM Punk is in a feud with Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker. He will team up with Sami Zayn against The Visionary and The Dog at Saturday Night’s Main Event on Saturday 24, 2025.