CM Punk debuted last year at AEW Rampage: The First Dance and instantly became one of their top stars. He worked with several top stars since then, especially against Adam Page. FTR once again defended CM Punk as well.
The Second City Saint kicked off AEW Dynamite a couple of weeks ago with a promo. He called out Adam Page and offered a rematch to him for the title. However, Page never showed up, and CM Punk said that Hangman is more about “coward sh*t” than “cowboy sh*t.”
CM Punk’s promo on Adam Page was not part of the plans and was a shoot. In fact, Punk even got heat on himself due to the promo. This is because many felt he actively buried Page with the promo.
There were also reports that CM Punk was unhappy in AEW, something that he denied. While speaking to Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN, FTR was asked about Punk’s backstage reputation. FTR claimed that only people behaving like middle-schoolers call CM Punk selfish.
“I think it’s a lot of things from the past, mostly. I think there’s a lot of old grudges. I think there’s a lot of old biases. I think there’s a lot of unresolved issues that are tainting how people react to seeing him now sometimes because he’s been nothing but nice and helpful to anybody that wants it. I know there’s underlying animosity between… once you’re in wrestling for so long, and especially at the top of it, there’s gonna be guys who don’t get along because you’re all vying for the same thing. You all want the same title. Egos are going to hit. It’s inevitable.
I know there’s going to be old tension. But as far as how he is as a person now, he couldn’t be more inviting. He couldn’t be more company-oriented as far as what he’s thinking and anything to the contrary; I really think it’s uneducated to go off of it because there’s only been one side (and) that’s all been the negative stuff. He hasn’t even really commented on it publicly because he’s not going to give it that much time of day and that much notoriety because it doesn’t deserve it. But I will say there’s two sides to every story, and then somewhere in the middle, that’s the truth. Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
He’s been nothing but a great person, a great mentor to a lot of guys there, somebody who wants the best for the company. That’s why he’s wanting the biggest houses, the biggest gates, and the most fans in the arena. I think it’s just going to be one of those things where time will tell. Over time, you’ll see that he has been well-meaning, he has been doing some good stuff, and like I said, anything to the contrary is, in my opinion, just people being childish and behaving like middle-schoolers,” said Cash.
Dax added to the conversation by saying, “And insecurity. I’m not gonna speak much on it because all that was perfectly put. But I’ll tell you this, what’s the better headline? ‘CM Punk goes into business for himself and shoots on somebody?’ Or, ‘CM Punk invites Will Hobbs into his locker room and explains to him for 30 minutes what he could have done to better himself for the match earlier?’ Or if the headline says, ‘CM Punk goes to Danhausen, who came to him and asked for advice, watched his match, and CM Punk gave him notes of advice on what he could do to better the match next time?’ Or if Brock Anderson says, ‘Hey, do you mind watching our tag match tonight?’ CM Punk sits there even though he’s got a busy night and watches it and says, ‘Hey, come into my locker room. Anybody else want to come into my locker room? Let’s talk about this.’ What’s the better headline? The more juicy headline is the one of him going into business for himself.”
Moxley squashed Punk in under three minutes to become the undisputed AEW World Champion. With AEW All Out right around the corner, the company might already have an opponent in mind for Moxley.
Do you agree with FTR? Sound off in the comments!