We now know more about a recent confrontation between CM Punk and Ryan Nemeth.
It was reported earlier this week that Nemeth had arrived at the site of Saturday’s AEW Collision, but was told that there had been a change and he would not be needed on the program.
PWTorch now reports some key details in the saga, as Punk cornered, berated and bullied Nemeth over a tweet where Ryan called Punk “soft.”
When Punk made an unadvertised appearance at Dynamite on June 21, PWTorch has learned that he confronted Ryan Nemeth backstage over a tweet where Nemeth indicated loyalty to The Elite. Nemeth had referred to Punk as “literally the softest man alive” in response to Punk referring to the Young Bucks as “Counterfeit Bucks.”
Nemeth is known to be close to the Bucks, as he has appeared in their “Being the Elite” YouTube video series.
At that Dynamite, PWTorch sources indicated Punk confronted Nemeth in the locker room. The story conveyed to PWTorch is that Punk cornered Nemeth in the locker room, got inches from his face, and angrily and aggressively asked if they had a problem or if they needed to settle things outside. Punk cited to Nemeth that his comments on Twitter inflamed existing tensions and that the optics of the tweet sent a bad message. This incident was witnessed by numerous wrestlers and was characterized as awkward and weird.
Nemeth moved the argument to the hallway, where Punk continued to berate him, according to our sources. Nemeth defended his judgment in calling Punk “soft” since Punk fired the first shots at the Bucks. Punk pushed back that his timing was bad and worked against the public image they were going for that everyone was either on the same page or at least not inflaming prior issues. Nemeth then asked Punk if he shouldn’t react to things Punk says on TV and Punk said that’d be the right choice at that time. Then they shook hands, but apparently the tension was still high as they went their separate ways.
Nemeth confided the incident in friends backstage and asked how to handle the situation. Nemeth has almost no leverage in AEW compared to Punk, who is a much bigger star, so Nemeth backed off and laid low, since his job could be at risk if Punk spoke out behind the scenes against him. He even has since deactivated his Twitter account.
PWTorch
We will have to wait and see what comes next in this incredible saga between Punk and The Elite and apparently, any supporters of The Elite.
Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter
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