During an interview with ESPN, AEW wrestler CM Punk talked about his issues with “Hangman” Adam Page, the backstage fight at All Out 2022, the aftermath & more.
The issues between Punk and Page started when they discussed what they were going to say in their promo segment, but Page went off-script and said the following on a LIVE episode of Dynamite:
“You talk a big game about workers’ rights. Well, you’ve shown the exact opposite since you got here. I love this place, I care about this place. This is my home. And this Sunday at Double or Nothing, I will not be defending this championship against you. No, for the first time in my life, I’ll be defending All Elite Wrestling from you.”
When Page was confronted by Punk backstage after this promo, Page accused Punk of trying to get Colt Cabana fired from All Elite Wrestling, which Punk said wasn’t true. Punk went on a rant about this during the All Out post-show media scrum as well.
Below are the highlights from Punk’s ESPN interview:
On his match with “Hangman” Adam Page at Double Or Nothing 2022:
“I proceed to have what I think is a garbage match because I’m trying to protect myself on stuff instead of actually just working and trying to put on the best performance I can.
I’m keeping an eye out. He chopped me in the mouth one time, and I’m just like, ‘OK, did you do that on purpose?’ You chip my tooth, and I’m like, ‘All right, should I give him a receipt?’ It changes the dynamic.
It poisoned everything for me, and it made it all really, really ugly, and that was what set all of this off, and here we are over a year later and ain’t sh*t been done about it.”
On apologizing to Tony Khan about going on a rant at the All Out 2022 post-show media scrum:
“The first thing I said to Tony when I sat down with him and spoke to him after it was, ‘Man, I’m really sorry I put you in that position. I apologize for the scrum’. But when you’ve watched that scrum, you’re looking at a very, very frustrated guy who had told people.
That’s not the first time he heard all that. It’s not the first time lawyers were told all that. And I was just looking for something to be done and nothing got done.
So, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. And I just didn’t approach it in the right manner, but tension was high. I was very, very pi$$ed. I pretty much knew that I had just injured myself again. I was hurt, and I was disappointed.
Yeah, it’s very easy for me to say I regret that and I handled it the wrong way, 100%.”
On the backstage fight at All Out 2022:
“We are trying to move past what happened that night specifically. I don’t think what happened was a big deal.
This has happened in the last 10 months in Hockey, in Basketball, in Baseball, in just about every sport. And it’s covered and it’s gone the next day.
I think because I have injured my tricep and I’ve been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated.
I think it’s been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, sh*t happens.”
On Kenny Omega & Young Bucks’ lawyers telling him not to contact them:
“Now we all got to roll in the f**king mud, and that never should have happened and has never been course-corrected. So, I understand people want to say that, ‘Oh, man, Punk is a d*ck.’ Well yeah, because I’m defending myself and I will always defend myself.
I’m open to have a full-blown f**king sit-down powwow discussion with everybody about it. But it hasn’t happened yet, and it’s not because of my lack of trying.”
On if he considered not returning:
“I certainly had some low moments, and I won’t rule out in those fleeting moments where I just say, ‘Ah, f**k this, whatever’. But I don’t ever think it was a serious intention to say that I’m done.
There’s still work to do, and I think I’m excited about a lot of stuff that’s coming up. So, to just throw the baby out with the bathwater, just because of a little boo-boo, I think would be a little silly.”
Also Read: “There was an attempt at damage control” – Backstage News On This ESPN Interview Of CM Punk
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