CM Punk didn’t want to be AEW World Champion according to Dax Harwood.
Back at AEW All Out, CM Punk defeated Jon Moxley to become AEW World Champion for the second time. What would follow would go down as one of the most infamous nights in AEW’s short lifespan. With Punk on the shelf with an injury, many have questioned whether we will see “The Best In The World” back in an AEW ring.
Speaking on his FTR podcast, Harwood revealed the conversation he had with Punk the night of AEW All Out.
“Punk was still so joyous and happy to be in the wrestling business. To be honest, he told me, when they were going to put the belt on him, that he didn’t want the belt. He said, ‘I just want to have fun,’ but he understood that Tony putting the belt on him would put AEW in a better light. He took it, begrudgingly a little bit, but he took the belt. At the time, he was taking me, Cash, Max [MJF], Wardlow, Hobbs, I’m missing so many guys, he was taking us out to eat, always paying for it. He bought all the girls in the locker room Starbucks gift cards and had one of the girls hand them out, anonymously, and didn’t say who they were from, but it was from him, just because he loved the atmosphere and loved being there. He also loved the work the girls were putting in. He thought they were busting their ass to try and get the attention that WWE’s women’s division was getting.”
“All the boys in the locker room were drinking and having a good time, and we were hugging, I have picture of me and Jay Lethal on the ground together just laughing our ass off. I had my wife and daughter there, Cash had his girlfriend. It was such a great time. After our match was over, I shower up, we had a couple of drinks with the guys real quick, grab my girls, and head back to the hotel. I was laying in bed and I got a text from one of the wrestlers that said, ‘is this shit true?’ I had no idea what he was talking about. Right after that, I got a call from my buddy CM Punk and he told me what happen. I said, ‘You’re lying to me dude. There is no way that happened.’ He was covered in blood from the match. He FaceTimed me, it was that night. He said, ‘I want to let you know, you’re going to hear some things. I want you to hear it from me. This is what happened.’ I said, ‘Dude, are you okay? Do you need anything? I’ll come right now to help you out, get you cleaned.’ ‘No, no, everything is fine, it’s died down, we’re good.’ That’s when I first heard about it,”
“Obviously, I wasn’t there. Who I perceive to be God is the only person who really knows the truth. Everyone is going to have their own version in their head. We’ve all done it before, we’ve made what we perceive to be the truth. What I’ve heard that is reported, there are elements of truth in it, but then there are also some things that raise a red flag to me. It seems like we’re only getting a portion of the story or what this journalist wants to put out, whether he has a bias or grudge against one of the parties, that’s just how I felt. I also knew that I didn’t know the whole story. I also felt that the stories that I heard from a few people, I don’t feel like they would blatantly lie to me. I do think there are bits of truth, but I also believe that some fans have read too much into it and I think they should let what happened, happen, and it die down. When it’s all said and done, I can’t tell you that I know 100% of the truth and I can’t tell you that the journalist reporting is 100% of the truth. I know what I perceive to be the truth and from the things I’ve read and heard, there is partial truth and partial things that are a bit exaggerated.”
Dax Harwood on FTR Podcast
It appears Dax believes that Punk still has a place in All Elite Wrestling, but we will have to wait to find out if Punk will wrestle for the promotion yet and with Tony Khan giving little away, it may be months till we know for sure what’s next for the two time AEW World Champion.
H/T to Fightful
Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter
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