By now, we're sure you'll familiar with what led to AEW firing CM Punk. To quickly recap the events of last August's All In, Jack Perry is thought to have taken a deliberate shot at the Best in the World during his pre-show match, leading to a backstage confrontation and alleged fight.
AEW President Tony Khan has since claimed his very life was in danger and subsequently fired Punk for his actions (AEW's loss proved to be WWE's gain). Now, Samoa Joe - who was present for this altercation - has shared his side of the story.
"There was a little bit of an incident. We got it broken up," he tells ESPN. "We went out there and wrestled, man. That's the gist of it. Everybody wants it to be a lot more than what it is, but that's what it was. And to speak any more on it would be pointless unless you're trying to get a scorecard and stuff -- but trust me, it wasn't that type of a fight."
Asked if he thinks it was a big deal, Joe responded, "Not to me. I've seen fights break out. Stuff happens. But again, that's me. I've been in these situations, I've seen that. I'll find it funny when people are like, 'Oh, Joe's cool with it.' I mean, nah man, it was a high-stress situation. Sure. But I mean, it's one I've seen happen many times."
"We get it squashed out. We had a show to do. We had [81,035] fans waiting out there. And that was my focus, because that's what it was about at that moment. We're about to go out and have the best night of our lives."
The site pushed the current AEW World Champion for details and put it to him that he was the voice of reason. "Hey, listen, we all understood that there was something to be done," Joe responded. "There was a mission ahead of us and everybody just got focused. And hey, if I was a part of that, cool. But my intention was to get out there and get this show on the road."
NDAs have reportedly been signed and neither Punk nor Perry have spoken out thus far. As a result, we may never know exactly what happened.
It clearly wasn't an issue for WWE as they've hired Punk and pushed him as a top star on the same level as Brock Lesnar and John Cena. As for Perry, he recently showed up at a NJPW show and proceeded to tear up his AEW contract.