As PWMania.com previously stated via Wade Keller of PWTorch, a story is expected to break soon that will exacerbate the situation as AEW prepares for Saturday’s Collision premiere with CM Punk’s return to the company. Keller stated, “I am under the impression between now and Saturday, there’s going to be something that comes out that media wise that is not gonna help matters, probably. I don’t mean to be cryptic but I haven’t heard the details or seen enough to say much but yea, I just don’t know. I just think it’s gonna be one of those weeks, I’ll put it that way… From what I’m hearing behind the scenes in AEW, it’s just gonna be one of those weeks.”
It was then revealed that Punk had a contentious interview with ESPN, which will be released on Friday. Bryan Alvarez stated that the interview “will make a lot of people upset.”
In an update, Fightful Select mentions a recent report claiming that AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II would feature Punk vs. NJPW Strong Openweight Champion KENTA. Following the publication of that report, a source stated that Punk “wasn’t thrilled with working with KENTA and he may come across badly in an interview.”
Now it appears that there is a lot more to this claim than meets the eye, which could have been done on purpose. In the ESPN interview, Punk reportedly discussed AEW Executive Vice Presidents The Elite, among other things. According to second-hand accounts, word of the interview got back to several people on the roster at Wednesday night’s AEW Dynamite taping, and some of it did not go over well.
Although AEW did set up the interview and monitor things, Punk spoke in a way that blurred the lines and created buzz for upcoming shows. Punk, in particular, is said to have answered questions in a way that made the audience wonder if he was angling for a story or if he was actually shooting. There’s no word yet on what will be included in the final ESPN piece, but the interview was conducted last week. Punk was said to be well aware that his responses could be perceived as polarizing.
Adam Page was reportedly brought up in a way that was neither confusing nor accidental from a work-shoot standpoint.
Punk was recently reported to have received a series of documents protecting AEW, which included some non-disparagements.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi conducted the interview, according to PWInsider. However, they claim that the interview took place earlier this week, not last week. It was also confirmed that the interview was set up and conducted with AEW’s knowledge.
