CM Punk assumed a prominent office role in AEW before getting suspended
CM Punk hasn't been seen on screen or officially since the All Out pay-per-view on September 4 and is still breaking the news cycle every few days. More light has recently been shed on his official role in the promotion.
During Punk's heated rant at the All Out media scrum, the former World Champion criticized a ton of things AEW had seemingly let slip, especially the performance of the company's EVPs. Now it seems that when the veteran said he was "trying to run a business," it was literal and not arrogant.
During Tony Khan's recent interview with Ariel Helwani, the AEW President seemingly let it slip that CM Punk has an office job similar to the EVPs.
"There’s a lot of people… you’d go, whatever their stuff is. I think there’s specific, even if they’re not working in an office job per se you’d go to like a Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley. And of course, people who are working office jobs like Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and...CM Punk," said Khan. [H/T: WrestleTalk]
Interesting...so CM Punk was "trying to run a business". He was apparently an EVP or front office in some way...take a listen.
via Ariel Helwani interview---full show here: bit.ly/3Mc3dcq https://t.co/on1unhYF3q
Currently, there's been no confirmation on what exactly the former World Champion did backstage, but according to Tony Khan, it might be on the same level as the AEW EVPs.
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Fans reacted to the news, now wondering if CM Punk was justified during his rant
Punk might have a ton of heat on himself both in the AEW locker room and with the fans, but recently social media has been slowly changing their stance on him.
After the most recent brawl between Andrade and Sammy Guevara, fans took to Twitter to share how they now see his point.
Similarly, the news of his possible EVP role in AEW has softened a few fans when it comes to the context behind his rant.
@jamie3sides My first thought when I heard him say the "... running a business..." line was he was either given a piece of ownership or a management position as part of TK's deal to entice him to make a return in AEW. Now the long suspension and radio silence makes a little more sense now.
@ogmundprime @jamie3sides Now it holds meaning to why CM punk would say it he wasn’t being unprofessional he was telling the truth which also makes sense to why TK agree with him. CM punk wasn’t being unprofessional TK knew what he was going to say and agreed with it. #TeamPunk
@jamie3sides I can’t say that I disagree with your comment. Initially, the “I’m trying to run a business” line just seemed like when Cena described him in the Punk’s WWE DVD as a guy who wants to run the company. So, I didn’t think much of it. Here, it takes a new direction.
@jamie3sides This makes this situation a whole lot more interesting
While nothing is official, does this slip of the tongue explain why CM Punk felt so justified going on the rant that he did and why an internal investigation is needed?
Only time will tell, but it seems like the All Out Backstage Brawl is far more complicated than fans realize.