AEW CEO Tony Khan has opened up further about the controversial exit of CM Punk from AEW, addressing the circumstances surrounding Punk’s backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW All In 2023.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, Khan discussed both the incident and AEW’s decision to air the security footage on Dynamite months later.
Khan acknowledged Helwani’s previous reporting on the situation and made it clear he did not fully agree with Punk’s version of events. “I didn’t necessarily agree with the description of how it all happened,” Khan said.
When asked why he chose to air the backstage security footage on Dynamite, Khan said the decision made sense for AEW’s product and provided context for Punk’s departure.
“I think the tape spoke for itself, and I think that I didn’t agree with how it happened, and obviously it was a major part of why things were no longer able to continue with us, even though I would have liked to have been able to… It was clear when we started doing Collision, I wanted to reconcile and find a way to still do those things. And I guess that wasn’t possible.”
Khan added that he ultimately hoped to keep everyone working together, but accepted that it wasn’t going to happen:
“I wanted to find a way for everybody to be able to work together, and that didn’t work, and that’s okay. It seems like everybody’s happier and doing better right now. I know in AEW right now, everybody’s really happy, and it feels like this is the best the locker room’s been since the Jacksonville lockdown days.”
CM Punk was terminated by AEW in September 2023 following the incident and made a shocking return to WWE just two months later at Survivor Series: WarGames. Punk’s AEW run (2021–2023) included a landmark debut, two reigns as AEW World Champion, and several major feuds that helped shape the company’s storytelling during that period.
