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Tony Khan, the owner of AEW, and former WWE Champion CM Punk had a five-year working relationship which had its ups and downs. The twists and turns of their relationship were heavily publicized and there for all to see.
The AEW President has at times found it difficult to balance the personalities of the company's stars while managing the product. The controversies surrounding CM Punk became the talk of the town and the reason for substantial criticism of Khan and AEW.
Here's a brief timeline of the Tony Khan-CM Punk relationship
Tony Khan announced he spoke to CM Punk in 2018.
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Tony Khan and CM Punk both confirmed that they started talking about his return as early as 2018. But for some reason, Khan didn't sign Punk. The former WWE Champion instead went on to sign with the FOX network for their WWE-based show, Backstage. It's now known that Punk would have made a return to the sports entertainment giant via that show, but the idea was nixed by Vince McMahon.
Khan signed CM Punk in 2021
Tony Khan was all smiles while at an AEW Media Scrum in 2021 following an episode of Rampage. The promotion had signed one of the hottest free agents in the industry. The former WWE Champion had debuted in his hometown of Chicago and made the Jacksonville-based promotion his new home.
CM Punk caused a massive headache for AEW and Tony Khan in 2022
CM Punk went on an infamous tirade in public during the 2022 AEW All Out Media Scrum. He took potshots at almost everyone in AEW, including Tony Khan and The Elite.
Some reports suggested that Punk lost it because Adam "Hangman" Page made some disparaging comments about Punk in a promo that he shot during their feud.
After the scrum, there were reports of a brawl between Punk and The Elite. Punk, who was injured during his match with Jon Moxley, vacated the world title immediately after. When Punk returned, Khan divided the roster with a new show, AEW Collision, and some semblance of peace was finally restored.
Tony Khan sacked Punk in 2023
However the "peace" was broken when Punk and Jack Perry had a discussion backstage, regarding Perry's idea of using real glass in a spot and The Voice of the Voiceless nixing the idea. That conversation would have ended there if the former Jungle Boy hadn't made a reference to it on live TV at AEW All In, during his pre-show match with Hook.
An altercation between Punk and Perry followed, as Punk was on his way to the ring, for his match with Samoa Joe. Reports suggest that it was during this altercation that Tony saw the physical side of Punk live. It has even been reported that the star lunged at Khan himself.
A few days after the incident, Tony Khan announced that Punk's contract was terminated with cause.
The rest, as they say, is history, with everyone having their own points of view. However, one thing is almost certain, a truce between Khan and Punk seems highly unlikely.
What are your thoughts on Punk's history with AEW? Sound off in the comments below!
