CM Punk Explains What Event Helped Him Consider Joining AEW

CM Punk appeared on ESPN’s SportsNation on Tuesday and further opened up about why he chose to sign with All Elite Wrestling rather than return to the WWE. Punk had already confirmed in interviews that he and AEW president Tony Khan had been speaking for years, but the thing that finally convinced him to give the promotion a closer look was how it handled the tragic passing of Brodie Lee. The former TNT Champion passed away at the age of 41 back in December after dealing with health issues for several months.

“You know, one of the big things that turned me onto them and made me consider going there, was you know… unfortunately we, the wrestling world, lost Brodie Lee last December,” Punk said (h/t Wrestling Inc.). “His sickness and everything that came with it was known in the company, but they kept it so secret. Wrestlers will always tell you, ‘Oh the boys, we’re a big family, we care about each other in the wrestling business…’ And none of that is entirely true, but to see everyone in the company band together just to keep a secret about somebody’s health, I was blown away by that. I was blown away that it wasn’t plastered all over every single website, and it was just kept secret. That made me go, ‘Well there’s something to that locker room.’”

After debuting on the Aug. 20 episode of AEW Rampage, Punk went into detail in a post-show media call about his decision to finally sign with the Jacksonville-based promotion.

“I’ll go ahead and spoil that, I’ve been talking to Tony for probably a year and a half,” Punk said. “Some girls are easier to get into bed, I am not. I need to be wined and dined. And that’s not, ‘oh I need more money and less dates.’ It was literally just talking to Tony, getting to know him. The more people that he employed that I knew, I’d ask questions, they’d tell me things. I’ve been in the game for a few minutes, so I’ve (promoters before). I’ve seen, I think I’ve tracked it since the downfall of ECW, every six months to a year somebody pops up (saying), ‘I have money, we’re going to have TV, we’re going to use all the ECW guys.’ This is not a slight on Tony at all, it’s more of a slight on me being a paranoid, neurotic, anxiety-ridden, very careful person.”

“And I wasn’t in a hurry. The pandemic kind of helped me out. I knew I couldn’t debut if there was no people in the building. I always say timing is everything, and there were a lot of happy accidents along the way that made this possible,” he added.