It appears that the CM Punk promo from AEW Collision was totally off the top. During the promo, Punk referenced the conflict with The Elite—despite there being some agreement to keep things behind the curtain and not allow it to become public.
The CM Punk ‘Counterfeit Bucks’ Homecoming Promo on AEW Collision ‘100 Percent Off-the-Cuff’
Mike Johnson of PWInsider first mentioned as much saying that the promo was “100 percent off-the-cuff.” Listening to it, shots were definitely fired and he was seated as kind of a babyface to those who agree with him and a heel who felt he was unprofessional or side with The Elite. This was Chicago and this was obviously a CM Punk crowd but the response to the promo and his unapologetic demeanor was a hit.
On an appearance with POST Wrestling, Dave Meltzer mentioned that the locker room was split again—and not in the anticipated brand split sense. He also described the split as being “pretty bad”:
“There’s a lot of divisiveness. It’s so frustrating to me because I see it so closely and I feel it shouldn’t be there. It’s worse now than it’s been. It hasn’t gotten better. Right now it’s at a pretty bad point again.”
Meltzer would also state that it wasn’t the time for CM Punk to make the statements he made about Adam Page during the ESPN interview. This was something of a shared sentiment given this was during the road to AEW Collision debuting on TNT.
Given that one of the suspected reasons for the brand split was the big backstage brawl and even separate shows and a legal agreement can stop CM Punk from firing shots, this remains an issue.
Separation is the path being taken at the moment but things probably won’t be resolved until there’s a civil sit-down where it’s all laid out from both sides. The alternative is to exist with open disses flying across brands until contract negotiations sort all of that out.
With almost a week to sit with CM Punk’s promo and allowing it to marinate, what did you think of it? Also, how do you see this locker room dispute shaking out?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
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