More on CM Punk’s Issues with Jon Moxley & Potential Return Status

As noted before, CM Punk was involved in a backstage fight incident following AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past September and is currently not expected to return to the company. Punk was involved in an online incident earlier this week bashing Jon Moxley over issues he claimed regarding their AEW World title feud last year and Chris Jericho for being a “liar and a stooge.”

Fightful Select reported that they held a recent interview with CM Punk and that their sources also provided several new details regarding the issues involving Punk in AEW.

On the topic of Punk’s issues with Moxley, Punk confirmed that Moxley was the one who came up with the idea for him to lose in a quick squash match that led to their rematch at this past September’s All Out 2022 event. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Punk told AEW officials he was not comfortable competing in any capacity without being medically cleared first and also had issues with the creative plans for the build for that match. Those same sources reportedly also stated that AEW officials were concerned that Punk would no show both the August 17th and 24th Dynamite shows over these issues and made special travel accommodations to ensure he would be present for those shows. Punk claimed that he had asked for additional pay for the match against Moxley on August 24th Dynamite show due to him also claiming that he was not medically cleared to compete at the time.

It was reported that Moxley and Punk have had heat with each other since Punk’s infamous All Out brawl incident over Moxley being among those who had help lead locker room meetings following the incident. It was also reported that it is currently not known if Punk has any heat with Bryan Danielson due to him also being one of the leaders for talent meetings after the incident. Those spoken to reportedly stated that if it came down to a decision of who to keep between Moxley and Punk, AEW would pick Moxley.

Punk reportedly has been very aware of the heat against him backstage in AEW and the threats of a potential talent walkout should he return in the future. Those spoken to reportedly stated that prior to Punk’s recent online outburst, some of the heat on Punk since the All Out brawl incident had died down but plenty still remains.

On the topic of a potential return, it was reported that those spoken to stated that Punk had been in recent contact with AEW CEO Tony Khan regarding talks for a potential return to the company. It was reported that Punk and Khan were planned to have another meeting in mid-February that was delayed due to Khan and others attending Jerry Jarrett’s funeral.

Those close to Punk reportedly stated that Punk was believed for some time to have wanted out of his contract with AEW without a non-compete terms attached but in recent weeks he had become open to the idea of returning to the company. One person spoken to reportedly stated that Punk was willing to apologize for the issues he caused during his portion of the All Out 2022 post-show media scrum. It was reported that while a lot of context was missing from this person’s claims, others spoken to reportedly stated that Punk has shown some regret over his actions that night.

Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Punk was originally considering potential legal actions over the All Out backstage brawl incident but there have been no new details regarding it in months. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that they felt there had been “productive progression” in the opposite direction over this issue.

In regards to Punk’s recent online outburst, those spoken to within AEW reportedly stated that they lost confidence in Punk returning to the company following his deleted Instagram post on March 23rd.