In his first interview since the backstage brawl with his colleagues that led to his suspension, AEW wrestler CM Punk said he regrets how he handled the situation and has apologized to CEO and president Tony Khan.
During a press conference following the All Out pay-per-view in September, Punk took aim at AEW wrestlers and executive vice presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), alleging that they had leaked inaccurate information to the media. (Punk called them “irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs and couldn’t f-–ing manage a Target.”) After the press conference, The Young Bucks and Omega confronted Punk in his locker room and a fight ensued, with Punk reportedly throwing the first punch.
“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,’” Punk said in an interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi published Friday. “I apologize for the [media] 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 pissed. 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%.”
