Chris Jericho Reveals Conversation With CM Punk At AEW ALL IN: London

AEW's CM Punk era is in the rear view. The young company brought the former WWE Champion into the fold in Summer 2021, successfully bringing Punk back to wrestling for the first time in over seven years. Punk's first six months proved to be a pure honeymoon phase as he enjoyed critically-acclaimed feuds with the likes of Eddie Kingston and Maxwell Jacob Friedman before pursuing and winning the AEW World Championship at AEW Double or Nothing 2022. Three days after that victory, it was all downhill. Punk broke his foot, leading him to missing the entire summer, eventually returning with a massive chip on his shoulder due to backstage frustrations boiling over.

Three weeks after his return came the infamous AEW All Out post-show press conference. Punk blasted AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks before getting into a physical confrontation with them in his locker room shortly after. While AEW President Tony Khan hoped to keep the peace by keeping the two parties separated come Punk's return this past June, another backstage incident at AEW ALL IN: London proved to be the final straw as Punk was fired earlier this month.

Chris Jericho Responds to CM Punk's Firing

Speaking on his Talk is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho briefly responded to the news of CM Punk's firing from AEW.

"I don't want to dwell on this or talk about, but I should address it. CM Punk, no longer with AEW, Wembley (Stadium) was his last match," Jericho said. "Which, what a way to go out if you're going to go out. It's a regretful moment, what happened, but Tony Khan made his decision. CM Punk was a big part of AEW from the time he was here and if you're going to go out, he went out on top by having this big match with Samoa Joe in a sold out stadium."

Jericho was on Punk's long list of backstage enemies. Y2J confronted Punk following his locker room fight with Omega and the Bucks, reportedly calling him a cancer and a detriment to the company. Punk put Jericho on blast earlier this year, referring to him as a "liar and a stooge."

Bad blood aside, cooler heads seemed poised to prevail. Jericho, Punk and Tony Khan sat down for a meeting ahead of Punk's AEW Collision comeback to discuss a potential on-screen feud. The meeting was described as "relatively uneventful."

"I did speak to him, briefly," Jericho added. "I was going to do a frankensteiner off the top, and I know that he does that sometimes, so I was curious if he was going to do it. I went and talked to him for a bit, asked if he was going to do it, he wasn't. I told him I was going to do the GTS, with a straight face, and I think for a second he thought that I was going to. I was joking, of course. I did see him that day."