Despite Everything, CM Punk Was A Victim of Himself First

CM Punk (Phil Brooks) has been one of the most popular and recognizable wrestlers of the past decade – and this is despite the “Best in the World” having spent seven years away from the professional wrestling industry.

Yet, over the past year, a large part of that fame has moved into the territory of “infamy”. Initially making his long-anticipated return to professional wrestling in the Summer of 2021, when he joined the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) roster as its most mainstream attraction, Punk returned to much fanfare. The segment of his return was uploaded almost immediately and currently stands at 16 million clicks – the most of any AEW video on the platform. Fans were delighted to see Punk return to professional wrestling 7 years after being (what was the popular opinion of the time and still should be) wronged by the WWE.

The CM Punk Problem

Whereas the first 12 months of Punk’s AEW tenure went by without issue, and included an epic feud with MJF, the second 12 months have been nothing short of controversial. When AEW can host the biggest non-WWE wrestling show of all time at Wembley Stadium and still get overshadowed by backstage news involving CM Punk, then there is a serious problem needing to be addressed.

And addressed it was, with recent news that Punk had been fired by Tony Khan and AEW – effective immediately. Just like that, the biggest star in the history of AEW – and one of the biggest in the history of professional wrestling – was gone from All Elite Wrestling and potentially gone from wrestling for good; especially if reports are to be believed that the WWE is not interested in Punk as a result of there being plenty of superstars in the locker room who aren’t a fan of the self-proclaimed “Voice of the Voiceless”.

Pro Wrestling Hero Takes Pepsi Plunge to Zero

For seven years, wrestling venues would often be filled with chants of “CM Punk!” and yet, at Wembley – a stadium playing host to UK “smart fans” who would typically have been Punk’s primary audience in the past – there were chants of “F*ck CM Punk!” and cheers of delight anytime Samoa Joe got the upper-hand in the match. With news having broke early into the show that there had been a backstage altercation between Punk and Jack Perry, the latest in a series of drama between Punk and his colleagues, it was only natural that fans would react this way – regardless of who instigated the backstage scuffle.

Yes, it can be (and probably should be) argued that Punk is not entirely to blame in this year of controversy. After all, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) and Kenny Omega (maybe the only man to come out of this series of drama looking better than he entered it) paying a visit to CM Punk’s locker room immediately after the now infamous All Out media scrum was probably not the most intelligent decision to make, especially given their roles as EVPs of the company. What did they expect to happen given the nature of what was said during the scrum? But what is certain is that most of the blame can be attributed to Punk.

Violence is Never the Answer

Punk is a man in his mid-40s whose only response to these events, every time, is to choose violence. That is problematic and hardly becoming of a man who is supposed to be an example to the next generation. Times have changed, wrestlers don’t need to get physical every time there is a disagreement anymore. Yet, he did just that. If he had kept his cool in these moments, even after the media scrum which culminated in Brawl Out, he would have had an argument.

There are, after all, valid arguments to be made that Punk has been a victim. He accused the Young Bucks and The Elite as a whole of leaking personal information to the “wrestling media”; he took issue with “Hangman” Adam Page making comments which can be perceived as disrespectful to veterans, who Punk appears protective of (unless they are William Regal, apparently); it is believed that he was “set up” and left to get lost on the London Underground by AEW’s transportation/hospitality organizer and he felt offended by Jack Perry’s attitude towards him over, of all things, the use of glass in professional wrestling. You can, in some ways, afford to feel a bit of a sympathy and allow just a tinge of suspicion that he was set up to creep in.

CM Punk Is His Own Worst Enemy

Punk is not solely at fault in all these instances (though he arguably carries some blame), but any argument and case he has is immediately dismissed when he chooses violence – and he chose violence every single time. Why? We don’t know. Even Tony Khan fell victim to Punk’s violent outbursts, which is believed to be what ultimately led to Punk’s dismissal. As Kevin Nash said on a recent episode of his Kliq THIS Podcast, it looks as though Punk has some mental health issues which need addressing and given that he is married to a known mental health advocate, he should begin speaking to her about his problems.

There can be arguments made on both sides, and it looks as though many fans have already committed to tribalism online – supporting one side without considering any of the evidence or arguments from the other. Even though Punk can rightfully argue he has been victimized in certain areas over the past year, and his remaining fans will continue to argue in his defense, he has ultimately allowed himself to be the victim of one person: Phil Brooks.