Ahead of his return during tomorrow's AEW Collision premiere, CM Punk has spoken out for the first time since last year's infamous "Brawl Out."
You shouldn't need us to remind you what happened following that press scrum, but Punk has shed at least some light on his interpretation of events in an interview with ESPN. Maintaining that he had a good relationship with The Elite when he first joined the company, it appears it all when wrong when Adam Page went off script.
Despite agreeing on the content of his in-ring promo, Page decided to lay into Punk live on television as he blamed the Best in the World for Colt Cabana's apparent firing. The former AEW World Champion denies being involved and would go on to explain the negative impact Page's actions on their match.
"I proceed to have what I think is a garbage match because I'm trying to protect myself on stuff instead of actually just working and trying to put on the best performance I can," he recalls. "I'm keeping an eye out. He chopped me in the mouth one time, and I'm just like, 'OK, did you do that on purpose?' You chip my tooth, and I'm like, 'All right, should I give him a receipt?' It changes the dynamic."
"It poisoned everything for me, and it made it all really, really ugly, and that was what set all of this off, and here we are over a year later and ain't sh*t been done about it."
Admitting that he regrets what happened during the press conference which followed his match with Jon Moxley, Punk says he apologised to AEW President Tony Khan and now has a great relationship with him. He also acknowledges that he handled the situation poorly but was frustrated with backstage politics.
In terms of what happened during the fight, Punk was unable to say too much but maintained that it's been blown out of proportion by the media.
"I don't think what happened was a big deal...I think because I have injured my tricep and I've been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it's been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, sh*t happens."
Punk added that he's tried to reach out to Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks but has received responses from lawyers telling him to not contact them.
"Now we all got to roll in the f---ing mud, and that never should have happened and has never been course-corrected," he continued. "So, I understand people want to say that, 'Oh, man, Punk is a dick.' Well yeah, because I'm defending myself and I will always defend myself. I'm open to have a full-blown f*cking sit-down powwow discussion with everybody about it. But it hasn't happened yet, and it's not because of my lack of trying."
Punk would conclude by saying, despite reports to the contrary, he never considered leaving AEW. "There's still work to do, and I think I'm excited about a lot of stuff that's coming up. So, to just throw the baby out with the bathwater, just because of a little boo-boo, I think would be a little silly."
For now, it appears that Punk and The Elite will be kept on separate shows and there are no plans to turn this real-life drama into a feud. This feels like one of those situations where each side feels they were in the right, though it definitely appears as if Page's lack of professionalism was the spark that lit the flame.
What do you think?