Samoa Joe Says “Everybody Rallied” After CM Punk All In Incident
Samoa Joe has commented on the CM Punk incident at All In that led to Punk leaving AEW.
CM Punk opened the All In pay-per-view in a match for his Real World Championship against Samoa Joe. Punk retained his self-appointed title in a bloody battle but by then, his story was already at an end in AEW.
Before making it to the ring in Wembley Stadium, CM Punk was involved in a backstage altercation with Jack Perry. The incident stemmed from an earlier situation where Punk had stopped Perry from using real glass in a spot on Collision.
As a result of an investigation into the incident and previous behaviour during his time in AEW, CM Punk was fired “for cause with immediate effect” on the day before the All Out pay-per-view in Chicago. Meaning that Samoa Joe match was the last of his AEW career, and could turn out to be the final match Punk ever competes in.
Samoa Joe has “always enjoyed” being in the ring with CM Punk
Speaking to the New York Post, Samoa Joe was asked about his relationship with Punk and began by talking about how much he’s always enjoyed sharing the ring with the star:
“A tremendous amount. I’ve always enjoyed the many minutes I’ve spent in the ring with Punk and to be able to revisit that at this point in our careers was a big thing for us both personally. It was good to get back in there and scrap around with him a bit and entertain a ton of people in the process.”
Joe was asked if he believes that Punk is perhaps misunderstood by some and the ROH World TV Champion is sure that’s the case:
“I’d imagine there are tons of things that are misunderstood or portrayed about him. Now, what those things are it’s who’s representing in what way. I can’t really give you a blanket statement as far as what those things are. For the most part, our relationship has been very, especially for these years, has been very non-wrestling related. It’s just been extraneous stuff outside of the world of wrestling and talking about life stuff.”
Samoa Joe then touched on the All In incident and said it’s not his place to debunk any rumours about what happened but added that the focus quickly became on getting back on track and getting his match with CM Punk in the ring:
“For the most part, I haven’t read what’s been portrayed. There’s been so much said. I’m not the one to go out there and try to debunk everything. I know we had the initial incident. Everybody rallied. Everybody got together. Got their heads together and lined up and got ready to do the show and we went out there and we did the show.
“That really was the focus at that point in time. We got a massive show to do and we got fans out there rabid to see that happen. So it’s important that we step up and do it and it’s important that we did and I was proud to be a part of that.”
Joe was then asked if the situation was as intense as it had been described, given that Tony Khan commented that he felt his life was in danger at the time but he says that is up to however everyone personally perceived what happened:
“That’s up to whoever perceived it. I’m used to that environment. Those things don’t seem very intense to me, but it could be something crazy intense to someone else. I wasn’t really affected by the moment. I was more focused on getting the show back on track and getting us going because it was bell time.”
Although CM Punk’s time in AEW is over, Samoa Joe is only just beginning as he will challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship at Grand Slam in New York City.