New Details from Backstage Altercation at All Out, Ace Steel Done with AEW?, Rumors

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PWMania.com Staff
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As PWMania.com previously reported, a backstage altercation turned physical following AEW World Champion CM Punk’s media scrum appearance, during which he called out “Hangman” Adam Page, Colt Cabana, and AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, who became the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions at All Out, the same night Punk defeated Jon Moxley to become a two-time AEW World Champion.

We’ve already mentioned how the situation was described as a “melee,” and AEW Producer Ace Steel was present along with his longtime friend/student, Punk. The Bucks confronted Punk about his scrum comments, and things became physical when Punk threw punches at Matt Jackson. There were rumors that Nick Jackson was “knocked out” during the altercation, and that Nick and Matt had cuts and bruises on Monday. Steel then allegedly threw a chair at Nick, striking him in the eye and this “knocked out” or “rocked” Nick.  Steel is also accused of biting Omega and grabbing his hair. Steel and Omega had a “tussle,” but it escalated to the point where Steel bit Omega and pulled his hair. Pat Buck and Christopher of AEW were rumored to be involved, but there were several people attempting to de-escalate the situation.

In an update, PWInsider and Fightful Select have provided additional information. On a related note, a video of Jericho mentioning the incident to AEW President Tony Khan at the end of his media scrum interview has gone viral. Before leaving the stage, Jericho embraces Khan and apparently says something about “shit went down” in the back. The following are the most recent fight updates, as well as a Twitter clip of Jericho and Khan:

* Following his media scrum tirade, Punk returned to his locker room, which is where the altercation occurred. Omega and The Bucks confronted Punk in his locker room about his scrum comments. First, there was a physical altercation between Punk and Nick/Matt.

* Sources are unsure who threw the first punch, but others say it was Punk. Omega was present, but he did not engage in physical contact with Punk.

* Steel arrived and became physically involved because his wife was nearby as she was watching over Punk’s dog Larry in the locker room. Steel “shoot cracked Nick Jackson with a chair,” according to one source, and Steel is lucky not to be in jail, according to another. AEW employees believe Steel will be leaving the company after this incident. After the incident, Steel faced a barrage of criticism, with one source saying that they weren’t sure what happened but that “it couldn’t have possibly escalated to hitting someone with a chair.”

* AEW personnel and security rushed in to break up the melee, separating the Punk and Elite sides. They argued for a while after the sides were separated before The Bucks and Omega left the area of Punk’s locker room. There was a lot of yelling on both sides, and one source said the argument lasted until The Elite left the area, with a lot of cursing and shouting. Concerning people attempting to separate the parties involved, one source stated flatly that it was a case of “them trying to save lives,” while another previously described it as “a lot of cursing, a lot of mayhem, and a lot of people not willing to hash it out.”

* It was previously reported that The Bucks were sporting cuts/bruises on Monday. PWInsider reports that at least one of The Bucks has a black eye as a result of the incident, and Fightful adds that the black eye on Nick was caused by Steel throwing the chair at him. On Monday afternoon, the Bucks and Omega left Chicago.

* Some people within AEW believe the situation will result in legal ramifications. According to F4Wonline.com, AEW officials and those involved in the incident have been tight-lipped about what happened and have yet to publicly comment on the alleged incident. Part of this is due to potential legal issues.

* A number of AEW employees support one side while blaming the other. Given Punk’s comments, some backed Omega and The Bucks, believing Punk’s verbal statements precipitated the incident and he was the guilty party. Others backed Punk and questioned why the AEW Executive Vice Presidents stormed into his locker room, putting Punk in an outnumbered situation, and that their decision to go there was partly to blame. According to Fightful, some people are siding with both parties, believing that Punk’s comments sparked the situation, while others believe The Elite should not have approached Punk while he was clearly enraged. However, the vast majority of AEW sources appear to believe Punk should have expected to be approached about his remarks.

* It was previously reported that Khan was not informed of the incident until after he had finished speaking with other scrum talents. According to PWInsider, Khan was not present for any of the backstage incident.

* AEW is remaining tight-lipped about the situation, but sources say the company is likely attempting to determine who should be held accountable and what their next steps should be. We previously discussed how Khan recently set a precedent by suspending Eddie Kingston for his backstage altercation with Sammy Guevara in early August, when that incident paled in comparison to how physical Sunday’s incident was, with many feeling that Khan almost has to suspend all or most of those involved in Sunday’s incident.

* Several sources continue to insist that this was not a work, at least not all of it. han has previously stated that he will not work AEW talent.

* There were rumours that AAA, IWGP, and ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR would be involved due to their friendship with Punk, but those rumors were false, according to multiple sources. Because they weren’t needed for the scrum, FTR had already left the building after the pay-per-view ended. The same goes for any rumors that Hangman was involved, as he was also gone. FTR and Page were not present.

* Given the situation involving the new AEW World Champion, the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions and EVPs, and a Producer, there is a lot of speculation about how things will go down at Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite taping.

* There’s also been a lot of talk about people sympathizing with MJF, with the perception that the backstage drama overshadowed his big return angle, which closed the pay-per-view, and that the entire situation is now deflecting attention away from the pay-per-view itself.

* We’re also hearing reactions from other wrestlers outside of AEW. One top WWE talent believes the Punk they knew years ago is now being highlighted in AEW. Another WWE talent said it’s one of the most elaborate works they’ve ever seen if it’s a work, and others have said “job well done to AEW… if this is a work.”

* There’s been a lot of speculation about why Khan didn’t respond to Punk’s comments criticizing the scrum’s EVPs, and why he didn’t clarify negative comments made about the people he founded the company with. One veteran main eventer described Punk’s actions as unprofessional, and he does not believe he is the company man or leader he portrays himself to be. They described Punk as “selfish and arrogant,” a sentiment shared by several sources, including those who worked with Punk on the WWE Backstage show on FS1.

“You can’t expect a lot of people here to have a lot of positive things to say about Punk, and I think he’s aware of that and has probably come to peace with it. I feel like he’s trying to run things there, and it looks like he’s doing it,” a WWE wrestler who previously worked with Punk added. 

* A WWE official agreed with Khan that wrestlers not liking each other isn’t bad for wrestling, but that in situations like what happened on Sunday, power has to be asserted to let everyone know that it’s not tolerable. According to the same source, that type of thing didn’t happen as frequently in WWE recently, with the exception of Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar, because talent knew that if they did it while former WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon was present, they wouldn’t be welcomed back. When a similar situation occurred, people like Alberto Del Rio were fired. Another WWE star stated that if the parties involved do not put their differences aside and focus on making money, “none of them have business talking about drawing houses or losing fans or interest. They have a good show but this is still the biggest piece of business they’ve done and they have to capitalize.”

You can read what Punk and Khan had to say about MJF’s return on Sunday night by clicking here.

For those who missed it, here’s a clip of a security guard rushing to deal with an incident involving top AEW talent, as well as the full scrum and the aforementioned Jericho and Khan:

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