AEW President Tony Khan Declines to Comment on the CM Punk Situation

The show must go on. That has been the mantra of All Elite Wrestling throughout the month of September, as the company generated a million-dollar gate for AEW All Out and has routinely done seven-figure viewership on weekly episodes of AEW Dynamite. A bulk of this success has come in the aftermath of the aforementioned All Out, which was marred with controversy due to CM Punk's post-show press conference. Punk blasted former friend Colt Cabana, ran down rival "Hangman" Adam Page, and criticized the leadership abilities of AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. Following this rant, a backstage fight broke out between Punk, Punk's trainer Ace Steel, Omega, and the Bucks, leading to suspensions for all involved.

Reports have circulated on the immediate consequences and implications of this altercation, but All Elite Wrestling has yet to make an official comment. AEW President Tony Khan doubled down on that during a recent appearance on Rock 105.3's The Show.

"I can't really comment on any of that," Khan said when asked about Punk's words at his presser (h/t Fightful). "What's going on is, it's the best show in pro wrestling tomorrow night on TBS. AEW Dynamite Grand Slam."

Despite the controversy leaving the pay-per-view, AEW has delivered consecutive million-viewer editions of AEW Dynamite. While the September 8th episode opened with a clear pivot from previous plans, as both the AEW World and Trios Titles were vacated, AEW has soldiered on by running high-caliber matches like Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page and Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara.

"Since All Out, it's been very newsworthy shows and they've also been some of our best shows and best ratings. That's for a reason," Khan continued. "AEW has put on some of our best matches. Right now, there is a lot of excitement in the company, not only with all the big championship fights, people are excited about the return of MJF. That's pretty huge. That's one of the main things we're focused on in AEW."

Khan was pressed for a response to the backstage situation again, which he declined. Instead, the AEW founder put spotlight on one of the company's biggest positives right now: MJF's return.

"I'm not going to comment again on that, but I will say that MJF's return has been a massive needle mover for AEW and has generated a ton of interest," Khan said. "Having MJF back on Dynamite has been great. That's another reason why we've seen a great ratings bump. He's a great star and a huge part of AEW."

AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam airs tonight at 8 PM ET.

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