Dax Harwood Offers His Perspective on CM Punk and AEW's "Brawl Out"
Dax Harwood discussed CM Punk and AEW's "Brawl Out" incident on the first episode of his new podcast, FTR. The friendship Harwood, Cash Wheeler and Punk had developed was well-documented both on AEW programming and behind the scenes and the decorated tag team star had nothing but positive things to say about the former AEW World Champion. He claimed Punk said, "Ahhh, I'm kind of feeling a certain way about it," when discussing the promo between him and Hangman Page ahead of Double or Nothing that wound up setting the stage for Punk's infamous post-show rant following the All Out pay-per-view. But he then noted that Punk's attitude toward AEW hadn't soured in the months leading up to All Out.
Harwood then admitted that he was gone from the arena by the time the backstage brawl involving Punk, Ace Steel, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega took place. He explained that Punk FaceTimed him shortly after the fight and explained his side of the story.
"I was laying in bed and I got a text from one of the wrestlers that said, 'is this s— true?' I had no idea what he was talking about," Harwood said. "Right after that, I got a call from my buddy CM Punk and he told me what happen. I said, 'You're lying to me dude. There is no way that happened.' He was covered in blood from the match. He FaceTimed me, it was that night. He said, 'I want to let you know, you're going to hear some things. I want you to hear it from me. This is what happened.' I said, 'Dude, are you okay? Do you need anything? I'll come right now to help you out, get you cleaned.' 'No, no, everything is fine, it's died down, we're good.' That's when I first heard about it."
While not outright recapping what Punk told him, he believed that the true story of what has been reported is only partially true. Harwood then pushed for Punk to eventually return to AEW once he recovers from his tricep injury.
"I can tell you what I hope, because I don't know," Harwood said. "Everyone knows about the legalities of the situation and no one is really expressing what is going to happen, what has happened, and what won't happen. I can tell you, all I can be truthful about, I can only tell you what I know and what I perceive to know, I hope that he comes back. I feel that AEW should have the Young Bucks in their locker room. AEW should have Kenny Omega in the locker room. I know that I feel AEW should have CM Punk in the locker room. With those four entities, it makes our talent roster so much deeper and better. It's four guys who want to be the best. Regardless of what any of us think personally, I know that we all want to be the best and I know we all want the best for professional wrestling. It's given us a life that we could never have otherwise.
"This is my plea to all four guys," he continued. "Please find a way to make it work. If we can make it work, we can set up the future of professional wrestling for a long time and we can change the course of professional wrestling for a very long time. When you think about it, unselfishly, we're doing this for 20-30 years down the road so guys and girls can make a living."