Dax Harwood is a fan of CM Punk. The duo worked together extensively during their shared time in AEW, with Punk's first match after winning the AEW World Championship actually coming in trios action with FTR by his side, and even as the then-champ sat on the sidelines waiting to recover from injury, Harwood and his partner, Cash Wheeler, sang his praises.
So naturally, when Punk ran head-first into a backstage brawl at All Out, folks wanted to know what the FTR boys thought of their friend. Would they continue to have Punk's back? Or would even they acknowledge that his actions were far from justified?
Fortunately, Sean Ross Sap of Fightful asked him that very question and, in maybe the weirdest twist of fate you'll read all day, he compared the former AEW World Champion to another champion he spent time working with during his time in WWE: Sasha Banks.
AEW's Dash Harwood complements the passion of CM Punk and Sasha Banks.
When asked about the controversy surrounding Punk, Harwood compared his status to that of Banks, who has been out of WWE for five months and counting after walking out of a show with her then-WWE Women's Tag Team partner Naomi following a dispute over their booking, as transcribed by Wrestling Inc.'s Shaun Ranft.
“[Sasha Banks] is just as passionate about wrestling as I am to the point where it does get her in trouble,” Harwood said to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp. “If you're not controversial, you're not worth remembering. I love her so much, she's a great human being and an incredible professional wrestler, maybe the best woman wrestler of all time.”
“Punk, the same thing as Sasha,” he continued. “A man who obviously has his detractors, and sometimes his detractors are louder,” Harwood noted that when Punk initially signed with the company, his door was always open; that he'd stick around after the show and even watch matches of younger wrestlers when they asked. “It all comes from a place of passion,” he declared. “He loves wrestling. Just like Sasha, I talk to him every day, and whatever he decides to do I hope it brings him joy because he deserves it.”
Wow, well I, for one, certainly didn't have one-half of the Lucha Libre AAA Tag Team Champions, IWGP Tag Team Champions, and Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions comparing the mindsets of Punk and Banks in an interview, but hey, it certainly is an interesting comparison that makes a good bit of sense. Both performers are loud, proud, outspoken, and over with a very vocal segment of fans who love everything they bring to the table, even if their current issues have prevented them from taking the ring recently – granted, Punk is still recovering from injury and likely won't be healthy enough to compete any time soon – they would generate big reactions from fans when they eventually re-emerge, even if Eric Bischoff doesn't seem to think so. While only time will tell where either performer will land next, assuming either decides to get back in the ring again professionally at all, it's clear their returns, to WWE, AEW, or otherwise, will continue to draw big-time reactions from the professional wrestling world, as they remain as popular as ever despite their absences from the squared circle.
CM Punk advocated for Sasha Banks in the past.
Recall, if you will, that this isn't the first news story that linked Punk and Banks. No, at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Punk was actually asked about Banks – real name Mercedes Varnado – walking out of WWE by The Hashtag Show, and he gave his full support to the former champion, as transcribed by Still Real To Us.
“My thing is, I can’t listen to people criticize me if I wouldn’t ask advice from them,” Punk said. “You can’t lead people somewhere you’ve never gone. I try to be as humble as I can be, and I don’t like talking about myself, but I was the first guy through the wall. I got f*cking bloodied for it. To watch somebody else stand up and walk out, I’m always going to support that, 100 f**king percent. I’ve never met Mercedes, I don’t know her, but I definitely feel solidarity with her. I know how that place is. I know how women are treated there. I’m not a woman myself, so I can’t put myself in those shoes, but there are probably a lot of reasons why she peaced out.”
Well, there you go. While Punk's issues with WWE are deep and well documented, it is nice to see him acknowledge the difference in perspective and advocate for his fellow wrestler… even if fighting your co-workers kind of flies in the face of worker solidarity.
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