The wrestling world was buzzing earlier this week, and let’s get into some reactions to CM Punk’s notable interview about his AEW exit.
In fairness, he covered a good bit of ground with Ariel Helwani on the host’s MMA Hour show, which we got to hear on Monday. It was sort of that elephant in the room that many were waiting for. However, as much as fans were expecting it to happen, when word of the big NDA covering Punk (and others) came out…it was kind of expected that things were dead and buried. Or at least, we wouldn’t hear about things until those involved were.
Enter Helwani and his popular MMA Hour show. To be fair, the show did not delve into anything we didn’t already know about All Out Brawl…so odds are CM Punk may have avoided any legal pain (although he did suspect he might be hearing from a lawyer). Instead, he focused mostly on his clash with Jack Perry and ultimately getting back to WWE.
So what did talent think?
As reactions came in, from both AEW and WWE talent, it was rather tame. One common theme from both sides was that they expected an interview such as this was inevitable. Everyone knows Punk talks, and this was sort of weighing on him. He has done well by not venting up until this week, and in comments to Helwani, he wasn’t really thrilled to get into it, but figured it was going to come up…and now maybe he won’t get asked it anymore.
According to Fightful, at least one WWE talent knew this was bound to happen. Given the timing, they seemed optimistic that it happened on the Monday prior to WrestleMania, giving people plenty of time to forget about it. Which, to be fair, is probably accurate. A lot is going to happen in the next few days, and a lot of that will be big news. Punk’s interview was notable, but it will fade fast.
The AEW reaction, aside from the interview itself being inevitable? That based on Punk’s account of it, the entire thing was avoidable and mistakes were made all around. AEW talent have moved on and are happy, Punk has moved on and is happy, and that’s all there is to it.
Considering how things had gone previously, and how contentious things had been? All in all, a pretty mature take from both sides. Some did express some optimism that perhaps one day, fences will be mended and the air can be cleared. I can’t say I blame them. After all, at one point in time, a CM Punk return to WWE was impossible to imagine…and here we are.
More must-reads: