AEW Star Reveals CM Punk "Didn't Want" The AEW World Title

By Liam Crowley

In its first three years, All Elite Wrestling has had nine total world champions. The company's top prize started on Chris Jericho's shoulders, who held it for just over six months before dropping the title to Jon Moxley. Moxley's first reign came almost entirely during the pandemic era, as he carried the AEW World Championship in an empty Daily's Place throughout 2020. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page would follow suit, both having lengthy runs with the belt. Things got complicated come this past May, as CM Punk was injured just three days after winning the strap at AEW Double or Nothing 2022. Punk would remain lineal champion throughout the summer, losing his initial unification match to Moxley in August before reclaiming the world title at AEW All Out in September.

Punk's second reign would last just three days once again, as he was stripped of the AEW World Championship following a torn triceps at the pay-per-view. As of this writing, Punk has yet to appear on AEW TV since, and his future in the company is in doubt.

Speaking on his podcast, Dax Harwood recalled a conversation he had with Punk ahead of his first title win earlier this year.

"He told me, when they were going to put the belt on him, that he didn't want the belt," Harwood recalled (h/t Fightful). "He said, 'I just want to have fun,' but he understood that Tony (Khan) putting the belt on him would put AEW in a better light. He took it, begrudgingly a little bit, but he took the belt."

Reports have circulated that Punk would not be welcomed back in the AEW locker room should he return to the company, due to the backstage fight he had with AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. Harwood pushed back on the anti-Punk narrative, revealing that he made significant gestures to win over his peers.

"At the time, he was taking me, Cash (Wheeler), Max [MJF], Wardlow, (Powerhouse) Hobbs, I'm missing so many guys, he was taking us out to eat, always paying for it," Harwood continued. "He bought all the girls in the locker room Starbucks gift cards and had one of the girls hand them out, anonymously, and didn't say who they were from, but it was from him, just because he loved the atmosphere and loved being there. He also loved the work the girls were putting in. He thought they were busting their a-- to try and get the attention that WWE's women's division was getting."

Punk is currently out of action with a torn triceps. It's unclear if he will return to AEW when he recovers.

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