Report: AEW Roster Deeply Unhappy With Tony Khan's Handling Of Latest CM Punk Drama

Tony Khan doesn't appear to be a very popular figure amongst talents in All Elite Wrestling. 

The promotion finds itself embroiled in another CM Punk saga, with the two-time AEW World Champion first taking shots at Hangman Page following the August 12 edition of AEW Collision. It has since emerged that Punk was trying to make a joke that immediately backfired and the 44-year-old has apologised to Hangman Page via text message. 

That story only opened the floodgates within All Elite Wrestling, though, and it has since been reported that CM Punk has been blocking certain talents from being booked on AEW Collision, including AEW Manager of Talent Relations Christopher Daniels and Ryan Nemeth. Many within AEW also believe Punk was involved in Hangman Page's pre-tape interview being moved from the Greensboro Coliseum to a different location on August 12, but reports have indicated Punk was not directly involved in that situation. Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy have also been booked then unbooked for Collision in the past. 

All of the drama within the promotion has caused morale in the locker room to plummet and the roster is deeply unhappy with Tony Khan's handling of the whole situation around CM Punk, according to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer.

"This locker room, they are not happy right now. Dave [Meltzer] I think said that morale was worse around the time of Brawl Out but, you know, this would be the second. I don't really know about that from talking to people regularly. It might actually be worse now. I mean there's a lot of people that are just so unhappy with Tony [Khan]. Like, 'Why is he allowing all of this to happen?' Guys like Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy, like nobody has anything bad to say about these guys, so they're very upset that they're told they can't go to a show or whatever. Morale is in the toilet right now and it's all because of everything that's going on," Alvarez reported on Wrestling Observer Live.

Tony Khan does find himself at the centre of the issues within AEW, firstly through his inability to resolve the problems between CM Punk and The Elite when they first emerged back in early 2022 over the decision to not renew Colt Cabana's contract. Khan has also ineffectively addressed the situation in public and he once again refused to comment on the issues surrounding CM Punk, stating during a podcast appearance this week that he didn't wish to provide any clarity on Punk blocking talents from Collision. 

Furthermore, reports have indicated that Tony Khan is personally a big fan of CM Punk, seemingly to the point that he will act like a fan around the 44-year-old. Following Punk's return promo on June 17, within which Punk took a shot at The Young Bucks, Tony Khan chanted "CM Punk" over and over again while fist-pumping as Punk walked past. 

Alongside all of the issues with CM Punk, it has been claimed that talents are unhappy with Khan's plans for AEW All In. Find out more here.