CM Punk Breaks Silence on AEW All Out Backstage Fight With Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks

CM Punk's AEW return is just over 24 hours away. The Second City Saint has been away from the company since AEW All Out in September as he tore his triceps during his main event title match with Jon Moxley. Insult was added to injury at the now-infamous post-show press conference, which saw Punk blast AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. This then led to a legitimate backstage fight between the two parties, resulting in all four men being stripped of their newly-won championships. Omega and the Bucks, collectively known as The Elite, were suspended from AEW and were absent from programming until November's AEW Full Gear.

Nine months removed from the fateful night, Punk has broken his silence.

"The first thing I said to Tony when I sat down with him and spoke to him after it was, 'Man, I'm really sorry I put you in that position,'" Punk told ESPN. "I apologize for the scrum."

While regretful of how it transpired, Punk emphasized that his remarks at the press conference came out of hope to address some long-running issues with AEW.

"But when you've watched that scrum, you're looking at a very, very frustrated guy who had told people. That's not the first time he heard all that. It's not the first time lawyers were told all that," Punk continued. "I was just looking for something to be done and nothing got done. So, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. I just didn't approach it in the right manner, but tension was high. I was very, very pissed. I pretty much knew that I had just injured myself again. I was hurt, and I was disappointed. It's very easy for me to say I regret that and I handled it the wrong way, 100%."

Both The Elite and AEW President Tony Khan have been asked about the aforementioned backstage fight on numerous occasions over the past nine months. Aside from the rare vague response about what they've learned from it, most have left no comment. Punk is also in that ballpark, as he told ESPN that he doesn't like saying "no comment" but that "we are trying to move past what happened that night specifically." Punk and The Elite are reportedly under non-disclosure agreements regarding commenting on the backstage fight.

"I don't think what happened was a big deal," Punk said of the fight. "This has happened in the last 10 months in hockey, in basketball, in baseball, in just about every sport. It's covered and it's gone the next day. I think because I have injured my tricep and I've been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it's been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, s--t happens."

Punk has since "tried" to contact Omega and the Bucks about the fight but has received "messages from lawyers saying, 'Do not contact this person.'" Punk noted that he is not sure whether those replies were from legal representatives of The Elite or from a third party.

Punk is scheduled to wrestle and speak this Saturday on the premiere episode of AEW Collision, which airs on TNT at 8 PM ET.