Yesterday, AEW aired backstage footage of CM Punk’s controversial backstage brawl with Jungle Boy at All In for the first time on its April 10th episode of AEW Dynamite. While the footage was loosely tied to an on-screen angle reportedly meant to embarrass the WWE superstar, fans felt like the angle blew up in AEW’s face instead.
On April 6, AEW announced its executive vice presidents and tag team wrestlers Matt and Nick Jackson would present backstage footage from its All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium. While a majority of fans assumed the Young Bucks were swerving them, reports from Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer confirmed the segment was about CM Punk on Twitter/X, saying it “wasn’t a bait and switch.” The brawl between CM Punk and wrestler Jungle Boy led to CM Punk’s firing from the company.
AEW’s decision to air CM Punk’s backstage brawl comes a week after his tell-all interview on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour show. In the pre-WrestleMania 40 interview, CM Punk detailed his falling out with AEW, his brawl with Jungle Boy, and operational differences between AEW and WWE as wrestling companies. Counter to online speculation that AEW’s airing of the All In brawl nearly eight months after the incident occurred was spurned by president Tony Khan wanting to embarrass CM Punk, Khan told Sports Illustrated the decision was storyline-driven.
CM Punk is asked about Jack Perry. Talks his last night in AEW and Tony Khan.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/oVYf4lKS15
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 1, 2024
As far as fans are concerned, the footage only made AEW look bad while giving CM Punk (and WWE) free publicity instead of making this week’s episode of Dynamite a better show. Although the segment was used to tie into the feud between the Young Bucks and CM Punk’s friends, FTR, for their match at AEW Dynasty, fans felt the segment was contrived and only served as a major distraction from Dynamite’s matches. Some fans went so far as to compare the segment to a stunt WCW would pull on WWE during the height of the Monday Night Wars. Here are some fan reactions:
It’s not just fans who are torn about AEW airing the All In CCTV footage. WWE superstars also shared their reaction to Dynamite’s All In segment in the form of internet memes. Chief among them being CM Punk reaction on his Instagram story where he posted an image of president George W. Bush standing in front of the Mission Accomplished banner.
From CM Punk’s Instagram story a few minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/7prXNrVvPu
— Tim Jarrell of PWUnlimited (@TimmyBuddy) April 11, 2024
— Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) April 11, 2024
While most of AEW’s fandom are split on whether or not its hard to argue that the decision was best for the company considering fans the audience chanted CM Punk’s name when the Young Bucks appeared later that night — echoing a similar phenomenon that plagued WWE whenever fans didn’t enjoy something happening in the ring — isn’t a good look. This, coupled with AEW seemingly copyright striking Twitter/X video reposts of the brawl probably didn’t do the company favors with its audience either.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh
