CM Punk made waves today in his explosive interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. The Second City Saint addressed his time in AEW and even spoke about the now-infamous backstage scuffle at All In 2023 that led to his release.

AEW traveled to Wembley Stadium last August for All In, where CM Punk reportedly engaged in a backstage altercation with Jack Perry. There have been varying stories about what happened, but Tony Khan later claimed that he feared for his life in justifying his release of The Straight Edge Superstar.

CM Punk addressed the incident on The MMA Hour. When asked about Tony Khan breaking the news of Punk’s departure to the Chicago crowd on the September 2, 2023 episode of Collision, the 45-year-old claimed that he didn’t do anything to make Khan “fear for his life.”

He also claimed that there had been efforts to slander him from within All Elite Wrestling:

“I can’t tell you what Tony felt or what he was thinking. But I didn’t do anything to make Tony fear for his life. He is who he is. There was a concerted effort to slander me and ruin my character,” said Punk.

Punk’s departure from the Jacksonville-based promotion shocked the wrestling world. As for Tony Khan, the All Elite chief has been mostly quiet on the subject as AEW attempts to move forward in the post-Punk era.