WrestleMania week has been loaded with from all across the wrestling industry, chief among those was CM Punk's interview with Ariel Helwani taking aim at AEW and outlining his side of the reported altercation between himself and Jack Perry at All In London. It doesn't appear to be the end of the story, though, as AEW has announced it will show its side of the story on national TV.
The promotion announced during its late night edition of Collision that it would be presenting “backstage footage from All In London” for the first time, with the Young Bucks on hand to discuss the incident on Dynamite. While the initial belief online was that this was an angle, Fightful Select clarified that the apparent plan is to show footage of the reported fight between CM Punk and Jack Perry that occurred moments before the show's official start at Wembley Stadium.
It was said that talent were told in advance so as not to be caught off guard, specifically FTR as the tag team are said to be close with both Punk and AEW President Tony Khan.
This would also be the first time the footage is seen by anyone outside of AEW's disciplinary committee and legal counsel.
“That's real glass”
The original incident took place at All In London as the pre-show was ending and the main card was going to start, with CM Punk taking on Samoa Joe in the opener. However, the seeds of the altercation were reportedly planted several weeks before All In when Punk allegedly confronted Jack Perry over a planned spot at the pay-per-view involving glass which Perry had gotten cleared, but Punk took issue with.
Punk claimed he expressed his concern about the spot and felt it was irresponsible, while Perry said he had gotten the spot cleared beforehand since he had planned time off after All In.
Perry ended up performing the spot, which him taking a suplex onto a car windshield, during his preshow match against Hook in what was dubbed an FTW rules match. Just before the spot, though, Perry turned to the camera and said “it's real glass, cry me a river” in what fans took as a direct shot at Punk.
As Perry walked backstage after the match, he crossed paths with Punk who was waiting in the go-position for his entrance when he reportedly confronted Perry. While there have been varying accounts of what happened, the general consensus is Punk and Perry got physical, Punk attempted to put Perry in a chokehold, Samoa Joe stepped in to break it up, and Punk yelled at Tony Khan before going out for his match.
In the aftermath of the altercation, Khan announced Punk's firing “with cause” on the following episode of Collision. The decision came after AEW consulted key talent such as Bryan Danielson, its own in-house lawyers, and a third-party firm with no connection to AEW, all of whom reportedly saw the CCTV footage and felt it was enough to fire Punk.
Punk would make his return to WWE at November 2023's Survivor Series while Perry would make his return to the ring for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, though fan belief is this is to set up an eventual return to AEW television.
AEW Dynamite airs every Wednesday on TBS.
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