Three years ago today, AEW fired CM Punk and slammed the door on one of the messiest runs in company history. A backstage fight with Jack Perry at Wembley Stadium ended with Punk losing his job—and Tony Khan telling the world he feared for his life.
The September 2 anniversary is now trending on X, and wrestling fans are still ripping each other apart over whether AEW made the right decision. The fuse was lit weeks before All In 2023. Perry wanted to use real glass for an injury angle on Collision, but Punk pushed back because he believed it was too dangerous. Perry didn’t let it go.
During his FTW Championship match against Hook on the All In Zero Hour show, Perry stopped at a limousine, touched the windshield and stared directly into the camera and said, “You know what this is right here? Real glass! Go cry me a river.” That wasn’t just trash talk for the audience. It was a direct shot at Punk—and Punk was waiting when Perry walked backstage.
Punk and Perry came face-to-face behind the curtain shortly before Punk was scheduled to open the main card against Samoa Joe. The argument turned physical fast. Punk shoved Perry and grabbed him in a front facelock before Samoa Joe and other people backstage broke it up. Punk still went through with his match. He defeated Joe and retained his self-proclaimed “Real World Championship,” but the situation behind the curtain was still spiraling.
There was enough chaos that AEW had another plan ready in case Punk refused to wrestle. After the match, security escorted Punk to his locker room, and he left Wembley Stadium before the event was over. AEW suspended Punk and Perry while the company investigated the fight. Punk learned about his suspension through his attorney, while Perry was also pulled from television.
Six days later, Punk was finished. On September 2, 2023, AEW announced that Punk’s wrestler and employment agreements had been terminated with cause, effective immediately.
“All Elite Wrestling has terminated the wrestler and employment agreements between Phillip Brooks, CM Punk, and AEW with cause, effective immediately.”
AEW said its discipline committee reviewed the incident and met with outside legal counsel. Both sides unanimously recommended firing Punk, but Khan made it clear that the final call belonged to him.
“Phil played an important role within AEW, and I thank him for his contributions. The termination of his AEW contracts with cause is ultimately my decision, and mine alone.”
Khan said he didn’t want to disappoint Punk’s fans, but protecting the people working for AEW came first.
“Of course, I wish I didn’t have to share this news, which may come as a disappointment to many of our fans. Nevertheless, I am making the decision in the best interests of the many amazing people who make AEW possible every week—our talent, staff, venue operators and many others whose efforts are unsung but essential to bringing our fans great shows on television and at arenas and stadiums throughout the world.”
Then Khan took things even further. He opened Collision that night and told viewers the confrontation endangered AEW employees who had nothing to do with Punk and Perry’s problem. Khan then said he had never felt that unsafe during his entire life in professional wrestling.
“The incident was regrettable, and it endangered people backstage. That includes the production staff, the people who help put the show on every week—innocent people who had nothing to do with it.”
“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. I’ve been producing them on this network for nearly four years. Never in all that time have I ever felt, until last Sunday, that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show.”
That line changed everything. Some fans believed it proved AEW had no choice but to fire Punk. Others felt Khan was being overly dramatic—especially after the actual security footage came out. Punk finally told his side of the story during an April 2024 interview with Ariel Helwani. He said he first asked Khan to deal with Perry before handling the situation himself.
“I said, ‘Please handle that. I’m not telling you what to do. Please handle it.’”
According to Punk, he then walked up to Perry and demanded to know why he kept dragging their private problem onto television. Punk denied punching Perry, but he didn’t deny putting his hands on him.
“I walked up to him, and I was just like, ‘Jack, why do you insist on doing this dumb internet s**t on TV?’ And he was just like, ‘Well, if you’ve got a problem with it, do something about it.’”
“I didn’t punch anybody. I just choked somebody a little bit. Samoa Joe was there.”
AEW finally aired the silent backstage footage on the April 10, 2024 episode of Dynamite. The video showed Punk approaching Perry and exchanging words with him. Punk then shoved Perry and grabbed him around the head before Samoa Joe and other people stepped in. The footage confirmed Punk started the physical contact, but it didn’t kill the debate. It poured gasoline on it.
Some viewers believed the video justified Punk’s firing. Others watched the short scuffle and wondered how it matched Khan’s claim that his life had been in danger. The live Dynamite crowd even chanted for Punk while AEW played the All In footage. By that point, Punk was already back in WWE. Less than three months after AEW fired him, Punk walked out at Survivor Series 2023 in Chicago and completed a return that once seemed impossible.
Three years later, Punk is sitting at the top of WWE as the Undisputed WWE Champion. He defeated Sami Zayn for the title on July 6, 2026, retained against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam and is still carrying the championship.
AEW moved on too. Perry returned as “The Scapegoat” and turned the entire mess into part of his identity, while the company continued running major events without Punk. Still, nobody has forgotten what happened. AEW believed Punk crossed a line and became too dangerous to keep around. Punk escaped a locker room he clearly hated, returned to WWE and became world champion again. Three years later, both sides survived—but wrestling fans are still throwing punches over who was actually right.
Did AEW make the right decision by firing CM Punk, or did Tony Khan blow a short backstage fight completely out of proportion? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
