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FTR are CM Punk's boys in AEW. The trio teamed together in Punk's first match post-Double or Nothing and were reportedly going to work together once more at Forbidden Door had the then-newly minted AEW World Heavyweight Champion not suffered an injury that required him to temporarily vacate his spot.
So naturally, when the greater wrestling world turned their attention to Punk in a way he maybe wasn't used to, let alone expecting, following the assertions that he went into business for himself in his now-infamous first promo back in AEW, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood quickly and consistently came to the defense of their buddy, pointing out that the man born Phil Brooks is very happy in the company and any rumors suggesting otherwise are false.
Now granted, both things could be true. Punk could have gone into business for himself as a nationally televised receipt to “Hangman” Adam Page and also enjoy coming to work alongside FTR and his other backstage buddies – aka not Colt Cabana. Plenty of people hate their jobs, or at least feel underappreciated but appreciate their co-workers, or even begrudgingly show up when their shifts start because they simply need the money – an accusation Moxley levied at Punk during their back and forth verbal brawl on that very same episode of Dynamite. But still, after billing himself as the “Voice of the People,” the “People's Champion,” and the “Best in the World,” the people in question have begun to wonder what was next for the former AEW World Champion and just how much he cared to be there at all.
Fortunately, as good enforcers should, Wheeler and Harwood sat down with Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN in the hopes of airing things out and confirming Punk's commitment to AEW.
He gave me the ‘jobber jaw punch’ pose.
And if you can’t tell, he’s VERY unhappy. pic.twitter.com/s8skV7MahJ
— Uncle Dax FTR (@DaxFTR) August 21, 2022
FTR believe that CM Punk is happy with his role in AEW.
After some pleasantries about tag team wrestling, All Out, and Wardlow's status as a future main event-caliber superstar, Muehlhausen decided to ask “7-star FTR” the question every fan wanted to know: What is going on with CM Punk?
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“I think it's a lot of things from the past, mostly,” Wheeler replied. “I think there's a lot of old grudges. I think there's a lot of old biases. I think there's a lot of unresolved issues that are tainting how people react to seeing him now sometimes because he's been nothing but nice and helpful to anybody that wants it. I know there's underlying animosity between… once you're in wrestling for so long, and especially at the top of it, there's gonna be guys who don't get along because you're all vying for the same thing. You all want the same title. Egos are going to hit. It's inevitable. I know there's going to be old tension. But as far as how he is as a person now, he couldn't be more inviting. He couldn't be more company-oriented as far as what he's thinking and anything to the contrary; I really think it's uneducated to go off of it because there's only been one side (and) that's all been the negative stuff. He hasn't even really commented on it publicly because he's not going to give it that much time of day and that much notoriety because it doesn't deserve it. But I will say there's two sides to every story, and then somewhere in the middle, that's the truth. Somewhere in the middle is the truth. He's been nothing but a great person, a great mentor to a lot of guys there, somebody who wants the best for the company. That's why he's wanting the biggest houses, the biggest gates, and the most fans in the arena. I think it's just going to be one of those things where time will tell. Over time, you'll see that he has been well-meaning, he has been doing some good stuff, and like I said, anything to the contrary is, in my opinion, just people being childish and behaving like middle-schoolers.”
“And insecurity,” Harwood added. “I'm not gonna speak much on it because all that was perfectly put. But I'll tell you this, what's the better headline? ‘CM Punk goes into business for himself and shoots on somebody?' Or, ‘CM Punk invites Will Hobbs into his locker room and explains to him for 30 minutes what he could have done to better himself for the match earlier?' Or if the headline says, ‘CM Punk goes to Danhausen, who came to him and asked for advice, watched his match, and CM Punk gave him notes of advice on what he could do to better the match next time?' Or if Brock Anderson says, ‘Hey, do you mind watching our tag match tonight?' CM Punk sits there even though he's got a busy night and watches it and says, ‘Hey, come into my locker room. Anybody else want to come into my locker room? Let's talk about this.'”
Whoa, a lot to unpack there. While both men speak profoundly and proudly about their friend and his willingness to give advice to younger performers like Hobbs, Danhausen, and Anderson, that doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't biases, issues, and ego-related jealousy on Punk's side of the equation either. Punk's past grievances with authority figures in other professional wrestling promotions are very well documented, and he ultimately retired from the game for almost a decade because of them.
Still, it's hard to see Wheeler and Harwood go to bat for their buddy and still look at the “Chick Magnet” as a mustache-twirling villain looking to take down AEW from the inside because Mox got over while he was on the mend. Assuming Punk does return to an AEW ring at some point in the future, his willingness to drop his strap in a squash tells a lot about his personal character and willingness to do his job if it's what his booker believes is what's best for business. While we may not find out if that was the case for days, weeks, or even months, as no one knows what's going on at All Out at this point, Wheeler's sentiment is probably the correct one, the truth always falls somewhere in the middle.
