More on CM Punk, Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, & Ace Steel Backstage Fight

As noted before, CM Punk, the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Ace Steel were involved in a backstage fight following AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past Sunday resulting in their suspensions from the company. AEW also suspended Brandon Cutler, Michael Nakazawa, Christopher Daniels, and Pat Buck for their involvement in the fight.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that among the neutral people who witnessed the fight were MJF and AEW Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh. Those sources reportedly also confirmed that there have been legal threats over the incident but it is currently believed that several who were involved do want to talk about their side of the incident once they are legally able to do so.

Meltzer reported that the rumors and reports of the Young Bucks breaking down or kicked open the door to Punk’s dressing rumor are not true based on those spoken to even from Punk’s side. Meltzer stated that had a door being kicked down, this would have been something he and others who attended the All Out post-show scrum would have heard nearby if it actually had happened. Those who arrived late to the fight reportedly also stated that the door to the dressing room was not broken.

Meltzer also reported that Punk’s claims blaming the Young Bucks for leaking the story about him being the cause of Colt Cabana’s removal from AEW to Ring of Honor’s roster is not true. Meltzer reported that the Young Bucks were not the source who told him that story and admitted it was something he should have privately told Punk afterwards had he known about the simmering anger it was causing to him.

In regards to the Cabana story incident, Meltzer stated:

Regarding the Colton story, this goes back months before Adam Page did the promo before Double or Nothing that Punk got so mad about. When Colton stopped being brought to television as a member of the Dark Order, given his past history with Punk and his sudden disappearance, this was a subject heavily spoken about within AEW. It seemed to be settled when Tony Khan, after the belief was he was going to or had let the contract expire, signed Colton for Ring of Honor at the same money. He appeared on both ROH PPV shows, but stopped appearing on AEW programming and was removed from the Dark Order with no angle or storyline explanation.

Several weeks ago, in this newsletter, I mentioned that the issue had gotten far more talked about after Punk did that promo out of nowhere on Page, and that Tony Khan needed to address it at a meeting or things would get bad. It was noted that Punk denied he had anything to do with it, but many talents, likely most, didn’t believe it. It wasn’t addressed at the meeting. Khan did do an interview where he said it was not Punk’s doing that Cabana was in ROH. Still, the reaction to that was that Khan saying it wasn’t Punk’s doing that he was in ROH, because that was a later part of the story since the ROH story came after Cabana stopped being brought to television. Khan did back Punk up at the press conference, but that got lost because Punk went so hard against Cabana earlier.

Meltzer also reported that while there have been different versions of the fight from those from the Young Bucks and CM Punk’s sides, the story mostly has remained the same from those spoken to by AEW officials who are being considered as neutral witnesses.

In regards to Ace Steel’s wife Lucy, Meltzer reported that his sources stated that she was in the room and could not move around well due to her currently dealing with a broken foot. Those same sources reportedly also stated that it is likely that the Young Bucks and Omega did not notice her in the room due to the fight took place very quickly after the Young Bucks arrived.

In regards to the story of Steel biting Omega, Meltzer reported that the general story is that Steel had believed Omega was going to try to apply a crossface or choke him which caused Steel to bite Omega as a defensive measure.

In regards to the backstage locker room reaction to the fight, one talent spoken to stated that they initially believed that AEW was simply shooting an angle in another room due to the ruckus being made and only found out afterwards when he went into the room that it was an actual fight instead. Several talent spoken to not affiliated with either the Young Bucks nor Punk’s side stated that they felt both Punk and Steel needed to be fired from the company over their actions from the post-show scrum and fight. Other talents spoken to stated that they were upset at Punk’s public digs at the Young Bucks since it brought down their contributions made regarding the birth and growth of the company.