CM Punk Looks Back On Controversial Hangman Page Promo, Backstage Brawl At AEW All Out

Given wrestling fans' fixation with a certain South Dakota monument, you might say that AEW's "Brawl Out" deserves a spot on a potential "Mount Rushmore of Untelevised Backstage Incidents." Never one to mince words, CM Punk has found himself in the challenging position of upholding his no-punches-pulled persona while still showing he can "make nice" and work with his present employers. But while on "MMA Hour," Punk delved into some uncomfortable topics, including the infamous "Hangman" Adam Page promo that saw Punk's professional conduct called into question.

"What he said didn't matter to me," Punk said. "But I sat down with him [beforehand] and I was very gracious, hammered out this promo ... and then he proceeds to go on live TV and not say any of the s*** we talked about. I can't hear him because the crowd's so loud, and I'm looking at him, and I have to really pay attention to what he's saying because my responses matter. I can't just say what I had planned, because it's not going to match what he's saying to me. And he's saying some s*** ... I don't know what he's talking about." Punk stated that he later confronted Page about his choice to go off-script during the live segment.

"Afterwards, I spoke to him," Punk said. "And I was like, 'Why did you do that?' And, you know ... he thinks I got one of his friends who hasn't been fired, fired. But I went to Tony and the lawyer and said, 'You need to fix that [because] if I do, you're not gonna like the way I fix it. And I thought I was being professional by not just murdering him on television."

Punk painted an unflattering picture of the AEW locker room as being cliquey and drama-filled, but claims he never fed into it. "With me, respect is the default," Punk said. "I respect everybody until you do something that makes me lose my respect for you. And I had never done anything to any of those guys. If they're basing how their attitude is toward me based on some bulls*** their friend told them, then I can't help you ... but yeah, everything went off the rails from there."

Fast-forward from the Page drama to the "All Out" drama, where a noticeably miffed Punk unloaded a "pipe bomb" caliber diatribe during the post-show media scrum. Punk said none of it was planned. "Getting out there and seeing 'reporters' that report s*** about you like it's fact," Punk said, "[they're] openly friends with other wrestlers — it's just f***in' high school. It's high school, cliquey, 'Mean Girls' drama bulls***. And I get there, and I see these goofs ... and I just lose my temper. Top three CM Punk promos, though."

Exact details of the post-scrum brawl remain scarce, and Punk didn't shed light on the matter, citing a non-disclosure agreement signed by those involved. "I have nothing to hide [but] there's an NDA in place for that one," Punk said. "I think you can go back and say, 'I wish I had never did the scrum.' Scrums are stupid anyway. Those things are really cringe ... but the problem you have with pro wrestling is, just anybody with a Twitter calls themselves a reporter or a journalist or whatever ... it feels a little bit good to say that a lot of it is lies and bulls***. The people who don't like me based on that stuff don't like me anyway. They're not my audience."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "MMA Hour" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.