All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has terminated the wrestler and employment agreements with Phil Brooks (CM Punk). It was announced by the AEW account on X, perhaps fittingly right before the company runs two shows at the United Center in Chicago. It is fitting because not only is Punk famously from Chicago, but the United Center was the home of many of his biggest moments in AEW. This includes Punk’s debut for the company when he returned to a pro wrestling ring on television for the first time in seven years.
It was a huge moment for the company and, in all honesty, wrestling as a whole. When Punk left WWE, it seemed like he was done with the industry forever. Yes, he had that stint on WWE Backstage, but his actual wrestling career seemed to be over.
When he came to All Elite Wrestling in August 2021, it was a massive moment for the company and one that truly put the organization on a different level, not only as a top-tier wrestling company but also as one that did things differently than WWE. If they could bring Punk back, they must not only be a valid competitor, but they must also be vastly different from Vince McMahon‘s company.
This is a look at what happened with CM Punk on AEW television over the last two years. It will be more about what happened on screen than off since those issues have been and will continue to be discussed to death. However, when discussing Punk, it’s often difficult to separate reality from fiction, since so much of his on-screen character and his feuds reference and incorporate his real-life situation.
Punk’s first match was at AEW All Out 2021 in Chicago with Darby Allin and it was well-received, as was his short feud with Eddie Kingston. It was during this feud that the first hints of potential backstage issues poked up. Kingston confronted Punk in the ring, saying “Nobody wants you here, they never wanted you here. That whole locker room is afraid to say it, but not me.” Was it just a storyline or was there some truth to those words?
This is a theme that would follow Punk for the rest of his time in AEW. Blending reality with television made Punk’s feuds feel real. You didn’t know what was a story, what was true, and what was going to happen next. It made it all very exciting. Unfortunately, the real issues are also what ultimately ended his time with AEW.
After Punk defeated Kingston at Full Gear 2021, he started a storyline with Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF). This was perhaps Punk’s finest work with AEW – and one of the best feuds in the history of the company.
Besides trading insults on the mic, the two also explored MJF’s backstory.
MJF talked about how he loved professional wrestling while he was growing up and that, despite being teased and bullied as a child, meeting CM Punk at an autograph singing when he was 11 was a huge moment for him. It inspired him to be a pro wrestler. Then Punk left wrestling – and he left MJF when he needed him most.
The emotion shown by MJF caused Punk to come out and ask if it was all true. And Friedman walked away.
This left Punk wondering “Am I the bad guy?” and try to make amends with MJF. But the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. Not only was it an intense and emotional situation, but it called back to the words of CM Punk himself from his days in Ring of Honor.
The two went on to have an absolutely excellent dollar collar match at Revolution 2022.
CM Punk was riding high after this feud, and he used that high to challenge the AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page. This is where things fell apart, both backstage and, in all honesty, on-screen as well. Punk wouldn’t have another real, long, sustained feud after the one with MJF.
In a promo, Hangman Page said that he has no respect for Punk. But then he talked about how being a champion was about more than what happens in the ring, it’s about what happens backstage. He then dropped the line “You talk a big game about workers’ rights, yeah, while you’ve showed the exact opposite since you got here.” That was a reference to the rumor that Punk tried to have Colt Cabana released for fired from AEW.
CM Punk disputed this. Again, the blending of reality with television was exciting, as Hangman claimed to be fighting to save AEW from Punk. However, little by little we started getting a bit too much reality and not enough TV content. The personal issues that made feuds with Kingston and MJF incredibly entertaining were becoming confusing as they often clashed with what was happening on TV. These issues also started to seriously grate with CM Punk.
Punk would go on to defeat Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing 2022, in a match where Punk would later say that he was worried Page would turn the match into a shoot.
Things got even worse, however as Punk was injured before he had a chance to defend the title (while jumping into the crowd during a celebration on Dynamite following Double or Nothing) and needed to have surgery. A tournament to name an interim World Champion would occur. It would be won by Jon Moxley.
Punk returned to AEW TV in August 2022, saving Moxley from an attack by the Jericho Appreciation Society and then confronting the interim champion. The two would have a match on Dynamite shortly afterward to determine an undisputed world champion and Moxley would win a shockingly short match and become the official champion.
The feud between the two men was hot. They were two of the biggest stars in the company and their rivalry felt big and important and real. Unfortunately, the backstage situation and the likely real-life animosity between Punk and many others in the locker room continued to plague the on-screen product. This could have been a monumental battle and a struggle that lasted for months, but instead, it was short and it got derailed.
Moxley and Punk would face off again at All Out 2022 in Chicago and Punk would win the title back. However, he was injured during the match. He would then go on a tirade during the post-show press conference in an event that everyone in the world has heard way too much about.
Punk would be stripped of the title and wouldn’t be seen on AEW TV until returning for the debut edition of AEW Collision at the United Center once again. He would cut a scathing promo on the show, realign with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (FTR), and proclaim that he had never been beaten for the AEW World Title.
Punk would go on to have simultaneous feuds with half of the roster on Collision, including Ricky Starks, Jay White, and even a brief battle with the House of Black. His main feud was with his old ROH rival Samoa Joe. The two had a very good match at All In, with the “Real World Championship” on the line. Punk would win in what turned out to be his final AEW match.
It was at All In where he had a “confrontation” with Jack Perry before the show officially started. The details at this point remain somewhat unclear, but it stemmed from comments Perry made during his match about using “real glass” in a spot, which apparently Punk had objected to a few weeks earlier. This was the fight that got CM Punk fired.
CM Punk leaves AEW right before a big show at the United Center and right around AEW All Out, the event where he had his first match for the company in 2021 and won the title last year before burning it all to the ground.
His AEW career will be known for what didn’t happen as much as what did happen. While his feuds and matches with the company were all mostly excellent, there’s still a feeling of unrealized potential. He didn’t get a chance to have one-on-one matches or feuds with Kenny Omega or Bryan Danielson or Malakai Black.
He didn’t get to finish his angle with Ricky Starks. He didn’t get to revisit his feud with MJF, which seemed to be where the company was heading after All Out 2022. He didn’t have many of the marquee matches and feuds that everyone dreamed of when he signed with the AEW. He didn’t have a long AEW title reign. And he didn’t have a long career with the company.
Unfortunately, this all seems to stem from Punk himself. Whether or not the AEW roster was welcoming to him is definitely a question that needs to be asked, but how Punk responded to this reaction and to his coworkers was definitely his decision. Ultimately, he burned bright, but couldn’t (or didn’t want to) contain his emotions and get along and, thus, he no longer works for the company.
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Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube.
