CM Punk Details His Side Of AEW All In Fight With Jack Perry

In a recent appearance on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, CM Punk shed some light on his infamous widely-reported dispute and physical confrontation with Jack Perry (formerly known as Jungle Boy.)

The incident is said to have culminated backstage at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium on August 27, 2023, an incident which AEW would cite as the central reason for firing Punk with cause. Now a WWE Superstar once again following the firing, Punk explains:

"Jack came back from his match. I’m the next match, I’m sitting there. I've got people with me. I’m not going to say who they are because I have a lot of friends who work there and I wish them all well, and I don’t want them to be punished because they’re friends with me. I walk up to him and I’m like, ‘Jack, why do you insist on doing this dumb internet s*** on TV?’"

This is in relation to a moment during the All In pre-show match between Perry and HOOK, where referring to a spot involving a car windshield, the former looked down the camera and made mention of "Real glass," adding, "Why don't you cry me a river?" (The remark was seemingly a reference to a prior dispute between the pair, one involving Perry's desire to use real glass in a backstage segment of AEW Collision and Punk's vetoing of the idea. Reports of the altercation had circulated in the build-up to All In.) 

Punk continues: "He’s like, if you have a problem, do something about it.' I was like, ‘Come on man. I can f***ing kill you. What are we doing?’ It’s like [former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen] says, ‘I can’t let you get close.’ I thought I was doing the responsible thing. I didn’t punch anybody. I just choked somebody a little bit."

(While a coach on the UFC's MMA-based reality series The Ultimate Fighter, Sonnen uttered this phrase before grappling with opposing coach Wanderlei Silva, a moment which has since become a meme.)

"Samoa Joe was there, told me to stop. I quit. I turned to [AEW founder and president Tony Khan] and said, ‘This place is a f***ing joke. You’re a clown. I quit.’ [...] I’m probably going to regret talking about all this s***, but that’s what happened."

Punk did wrestle the opening match of the main portion of All In against Samoa Joe, but this would indeed be his last appearance for AEW.

H/T to Fightful.