Does CM Punk Have a No-Compete Clause Following AEW Firing?
AEW President Tony Khan was asked about the terms of Punk's firing.
All Elite Wrestling's CM Punk era is officially over. Following a physical altercation that took place backstage at AEW ALL IN: London, AEW President Tony Khan terminated Punk's talent and employee contracts "with cause." The incident in question involved Punk getting physical with Jack Perry after Perry made a televised reference to a reported behind-the-scenes argument the two had previously. This incident encompassed numerous people including Khan himself, who publicly stated that he "feared for [his] safety" during it. Punk's future in professional wrestling remains a mystery, as many question whether former employer WWE would entertain the idea of bringing him back in.
Does CM Punk Have a No-Compete Clause?
During the AEW All Out post-show press conference, AEW President Tony Khan dodged a question about whether or not CM Punk's firing includes a no-compete clause.
"I don't want to discuss the terms of the separation in that sense. I very much want to thank CM Punk, Phil, for everything he did in AEW as a wrestler," Khan said. "I don't think it was an easy decision for anybody on the discipline committee or the outside counsel or for me to do something like that. I do think it was the right move. As far as what's going to happen in the future, I can't speak to that. I'm not the attorneys who interpret all that language."
Within professional wrestling, there are three typical ways that a contracted relationship between a talent and a promotion can end: talent contract expires, talent is released, or talent is fired. When a talent's contract expires, they are free to compete in any promotion at any time. When a talent is released, there is usually a "no compete" clause of 30-90 days where said talent is not allowed to wrestle elsewhere until that grace period is up. When a talent is fired, the immediate future is a bit blurry.
Many have looked to November's WWE Survivor Series, a premium live event that takes place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, as being the probable landing spot for Punk if he were to return to WWE. That said, WWE Survivor Series is 84 days away from the date of Punk's firing, meaning a standard 90-day no-compete clause would prevent Punk from appearing on that show.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Punk's wrestling future.
AEW All Out 2023 Results
- (Zero Hour) Over Budget Battle Royale: Hangman Page def. field
- (Zero Hour) Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue def. Athena, Mercedes Martinez and Diamante
- (Zero Hour) AEW World Trios Championships: The Acclaimed (c) def. Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh and Jay Lethal
- ROH World Tag Team Championships: MJF and Adam Cole (c) def. The Dark Order
- ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe (c) def. Shane Taylor
- AEW TNT Championship: Luchasaurus (c) def. Darby Allin
- Miro def. Powerhouse Hobbs
- AEW TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) def. Ruby Soho
- Strap Match: Bryan Danielson def. Ricky Starks
- Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta def. Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata
- Konosuke Takeshita def. Kenny Omega
- Bullet Club Gold def. Young Bucks and FTR
- AEW International Championship: Jon Moxley def. Orange Cassidy (c)