Tony Khan gives cagey response regarding rumored issues between CM Punk and a former WWE Superstar
AEW President Tony Khan refused to comment on the rumored issues between former WWE Superstars CM Punk and Colt Cabana. The latter of which appears to have made a permanent transition to sister promotion Ring of Honor.
The pair were best friends who both trained at AEW producer Ace Steel's wrestling school. Punk got Cabana into WWE's iteration of ECW and made direct reference to the Dark Order star on TV during his 'Pipebomb Promo'. However, the two fell out when Colt sued Punk in 2018 for a million dollars.
There has seemingly been a distinct correlation between the Cult of Personality's arrival in AEW and Colt Cabana's phasing out of AEW programming. Mr. Boom Boom instead appears to be a major player in Ring of Honor going forward.
While confirming his status within ROH as essential during the Death Before Dishonor media call, Tony Khan declined to comment on the rumors:
"Colt was a big part of Supercard of Honor in the Zero Hour and absolutely will be involved in Death Before Dishonor. I wouldn't comment on the other stuff but thanks for asking anyway. I do think it'll be great for that event going forward for Ring of Honor and just in general, I'm always happy to have him around."
Before the #ROH #DeathBeforeDishonor PPV TONIGHT, it's @ColtCabana vs. @Antnyhenry LIVE at Zero Hour, starting at 7e/4p on youtube.com/ringofhonor! https://t.co/OGRJ7W2g6Q
Colt Cabana will indeed compete at Death Before Dishonor, squaring off against Anthony Henry during the 'Zero Hour' pre-show.
WCW veteran Disco Inferno believes CM Punk is the reason for the WWE Superstar's absence from TV
Tony Khan's refusal to weigh in on the situation goes against the grain of other industry professionals. WCW legends Disco Inferno and Konnan discussed Punk and Cabana on their Keepin' it 100 podcast:
"Maybe that is true. Maybe Punk got Cabana like outed like got him out of there," Inferno said. (1:30)
The bad blood between them doesn't appear to have subsided, as Konnan added that he had spoken to the two-time WWE Champion and he appeared "hurt".
Time heals wounds and this has been shown especially in the scope of wrestling, so maybe one day they will patch things up. For now, it appears as though they will keep their distance as they pursue different paths under Tony Khan's umbrella.