Tony Khan Defends Airing CM Punk Footage from AEW All In London While Disputing the Latter’s Previous Claims

Tony Khan has opened up on airing the security footage from AEW All In: London containing the brawl between CM Punk and Jack Perry.

Tony Khan Defends Airing CM Punk Footage from AEW All In London While Disputing the Latter’s Previous Claims

Tony Khan and CM Punk [via- Wrestling Inc]

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Over two years since CM Punk‘s AEW exit, the company’s head honcho, Tony Khan, has finally given his side of the story on it. In his first-ever in-studio interview with Ariel Helwani, Khan was asked if he had any regrets over how the entire situation was handled.

Helwani also inquired if AEW making the backstage footage public on national television felt like the best response to Punk’s tell-all chat with Helwani. Khan started off by saying that he didn’t necessarily agree with how CM Punk narrated the entire incident on Helwani’s show.

Next, the AEW CEO affirmed that it wasn’t his way of responding to Punk’s revelations, but the episode of AEW Dynamite on which the footage from All In featuring a physical altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry was aired scored big ratings for them.

I didn’t necessarily agree with everything that was said in that interview about how things happened, but it’s also a TV show, and it did a very strong number…………….Obviously, it was a major part of why things were no longer able to continue with us, even though I would have liked them to. It’s clear that I wanted to reconcile and move forward.

Tony Khan via The Ariel Helwani Show

The Jaguars executive noted that it garnered a ton of traction and also that it’s in the eye of the beholder. Khan said that his company was on a hot run even before the ‘Best in the World’ got there in the summer of 2021. But he didn’t discard the positive impact that Punk had on the company and emphasized that working with the ‘Cookie Master’ was great.

Khan admitted that he did want to reconcile and continue doing business with the ‘Second City Saint’, which is why Khan came up with the idea of AEW Collision. It was basically done to segregate CM Punk from the people he had problems with on the roster, most notably the company’s EVPs, viz., The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.

After being asked for a response on Punk’s previous comments about Khan showing signs of an incompetent boss for running a promotion like AEW, the 43-year-old said he doesn’t agree with it but noted that everyone is entitled to their opinion. When Punk was on the show last year, he called Khan a “nice guy” in a position who’s running a wrestling company that’s not predicated on selling out arenas.

Why Tony Khan’s remarks about disputing CM Punk don’t add up?

While Tony Khan said that he didn’t agree with the description of how CM Punk revealed the turn of events at Wembley Stadium for All In, it wouldn’t put Punk in the wrong. Why is that so? It’s simply due to the fact that whatever Punk told Ariel Helwani in their interview was true, and it saw the light of day when AEW, for some reason, aired the security footage of it on national television.

CM Punk and Tony Khan
CM Punk and Tony Khan (via WWE and AEW)

As shown in the video, the ‘Best in the World’ approached Jack Perry after the latter’s persistent efforts to tick Punk off had crossed the line. The reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion punched Perry and tried choking him out, which is exactly what he said on air with Helwani. The fight got broken up by the people who were around, but it was ugly.

Punk was in the opening match of the main show against Samoa Joe. The said altercation had happened just minutes before they were about to wrestle in front of a record-breaking AEW crowd. ‘The Voice of the Voiceless’ could’ve walked out on the show, but he didn’t, out of respect for Joe, the match referee, the agents producing it, and also for the fans who paid for a ticket.

‘The Straight Edge Superstar’ said he knew from the inside that it was going to be his last-ever match in AEW. After a few days, Tony Khan revealed via a video message that AEW had terminated Punk’s contract with cause. The company president deemed the events that led to it regrettable.

Khan also noted that he never feared for his life and security at a wrestling show like that, being backstage for All In. He elaborated that the decision to let CM Punk go was made after gaining feedback from an internal disciplinary committee headed by Bryan Danielson and also from outside legal counsel.

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