Tony Khan Explains Why He Addressed The Chicago Crowd Following CM Punk's Firing

CM Punk’s firing from All Elite Wrestling after his conduct backstage at All In has been one of the biggest stories in pro-wrestling this year, with Punk fired after AEW President Tony Khan revealed he ‘feared for his life’ during the incident.

Punk’s firing came as AEW returned to his home town of Chicago for All Out weekend, with Khan himself addressing the Chicago crowd and revealing his reasons for letting Punk go. During an interview with Insider, Khan revealed why he spoke with the live crowd:

“You can't see everybody's face from the centre of the ring. You have to choose one side of the crowd to face when you're in the ring. And I wanted to be able to see everybody. I felt like, I'm not a wrestler and I don't need to be in the ring, and for this moment, I thought I would just sit down and talk to everybody. That's why I brought out a chair.

“And when I was done and walked backstage, the first person I saw was Ricky Steamboat and he said, ‘That was great, you turned the crowd. You turned them around. That's so hard to do, and you did it.' I felt I at least owed that much to the wrestlers and the fans, to go out there and talk to everybody,” said Khan.