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CM Punk and The Elite's ill-fated brawl last year at All Out divided the roster and the fanbase. Allegedly, both parties were meant to meet up, and now there's some speculation as to why they never held talks.
Some believe that the cancellation of the meeting is largely why the veteran was in a bad mood at AEW All In. This seemingly had a domino effect that was only compounded by Punk's alleged travel issues in London and Jack Perry taking shots at him during the pay-per-view.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Elite turned down the meeting after all the drama involving Punk and AEW Collision.
"All of the weekly things with CM Punk, whether it be what happened to Ryan Nemeth and Christopher Daniels, and then hearing about a legal letter right before the meeting, led to The Elite turning down a meeting with Punk."
Additionally, Dave Meltzer also claimed that The Bucks had a condition to meet with CM Punk. According to the report, the star had to avoid strife for six months. Taking this into consideration, Punk's backstage issues on Collision are likely why they turned down the meeting.
Missed out on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results here.
A number of AEW stars were reportedly very upset with CM Punk's release
The reports leading up to the ultimate firing of The Second City Saint seemed to suggest that there were many on the roster against the veteran. However, Punk had some notable friends on the roster who all were heavily featured on AEW Collision.
According to the same edition of the WON, Andrade El Idolo and FTR were some of the notable names upset by the news of Punk's release.
"There were a few wrestlers close to Punk upset by his being released although Andrade was the only one who publicly expressed that. Both Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler did things to express support for him and the reaction was that people understood and we heard nothing negative about that."
It remains to be seen if CM Punk's close friends will be able to coexist with the roster that seemingly ousted him in the end. On the other hand, those who wanted him gone should now be able to continue in peace.
Do you think AEW will continue to feel the backstage effects of CM Punks departure? Sound off in the comments section below.
