Report: CM Punk Blocks AEW Talents From Collision Tapings

After one month of relative quiet within All Elite Wrestling, issues between CM Punk and The Elite have once again boiled to the surface.

The latest drama arose following the August 12 edition of AEW Collision in Greensboro, North Carolina after he took shots at Hangman Page over his action figures not selling, saying, "He's a peg warmer unlike me who moves merchandise and pops ratings and sells toys." Punk then stated that he might be the heart and soul of AEW, only a couple of weeks after The Elite said they were the heart and soul of the promotion. 

It then emerged that Hangman Page was booked to film a pre-tape backstage at AEW Collision for Wednesday night, only for Page to be told the promo would have to be taped away from the building. It was also noted that Ryan Nemeth was brought in for Collision and he was immediately sent home upon arriving at the venue. 

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio there have been similar situations with Matt Hardy and Christopher Daniels being booked then unbooked for AEW Collision tapings. Fightful Select noted Isiah Kassidy, who is aligned with Matt Hardy on AEW TV, was also booked and unbooked for a Collision show. 

"Matt Hardy was booked on a Saturday, went there, and then was told not to go to the building after he got there. That was not last night, but Matt Hardy was one of them. Christopher Daniels, who had been working with Matt Sydal as a tag team in Ring of Honor, for whatever reason, same thing happened with him. He's not supposed to go on Saturdays and he's frickin' head of talent relations. There may be others, but those are the ones that I know of that have been happening too," Meltzer said.

Haus of Wrestling has reported that Christopher Daniels and Ryan Nemeth not being backstage at Collision is due to issues with CM Punk. Daniels was involved in the post-AEW All Out 2022 backstage fight and is believed to have tried to break up the altercation. Punk took issue with Daniels being backstage at AEW Collision, though, since Ace Steel (who allegedly bit Kenny Omega and threw a chair at Nick Jackson during the brawl) is banned from being on the road with Collision and "Punk is said to feel the same about Daniels and does not want him backstage either."

For Nemeth, Punk took exception to his "softest man alive" tweet after Punk's AEW return promo in which he said he was the one true genuine article in a business filled with "counterfeit bucks." Punk is reportedly looking to avoid "any drama backstage at Collision and felt Nemeth’s previous comments showed his willingness to unnecessarily stir the pot in the locker room."

Meltzer further noted on F4W Online that Punk's camp has denied he was involved in stopping Hangman Page and Matt Hardy from being at AEW Collision. Others have claimed Punk was involved and much of the locker room believes Punk was involved. 

PWTorch also reported that Punk "is fiercely protective of Collision being a low drama environment, which is why he doesn't want wrestlers he perceives as disloyal or too closely aligned with The Elite crew to be backstage at Collision." Punk also believes Collision is his show and he wants to provide the leadership that he feels The Elite are not providing on Dynamite, but this has extended to Punk essentially having veto power over who is backstage at Collision. 

The feeling amongst wrestlers not in a position of power with a big contract is they should lay low in regards to Punk because they don't want to end up on his "enemies list." The feeling is they are in an awkward position too since Tony Khan has made it clear that Punk is important to AEW and Khan himself is a big fan of Punk. 

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