Tony Khan, Samoa Joe, Miro Reportedly Involved In Punk/Perry Incident At AEW All In

In the midst of the biggest show in company history (and possibly history, full stop), All Elite Wrestling came under major scrutiny upon news that a backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry resulted in both men leaving Wembley Stadium and Punk reportedly threatening to quit AEW.  On the latest episode of “Wrestling Observer Live,” Bryan Alvarez claims to have has many new details from the incident, including the fact that AEW CEO Tony Khan was a witness.

Alvarez opened the episode by claiming he had spoken to more than a dozen people in AEW, and made a point of comparing the public nature of this incident to the backstage fight after All Out 2022, which was not initially witnessed. According to Alvarez, after Perry returned to the back following his pre-show FTW Championship match against HOOK, he was receiving treatment for cuts suffered after being suplexed through the “real glass” of a limousine’s windshield. Noting Perry’s on-camera remarks about the glass in reference to a recent backstage dispute, Punk initiated a conversation with Perry, asking if he had an issue with him. Punk then reportedly reminded Perry that he could “beat his ass,” which subsequently led to a brief scuffle that was ultimately put to a stop.

“It was very quick,” Alvarez said. “Pretty much 100% say that Punk made the comment, he either shoved or pie-faced [Perry], grabbed him in the guillotine front headlock, and it was like, immediately broken up. Samoa Joe’s right there, everybody is right there. Nobody got their ass kicked … But I will just say this, they got close enough to Tony Khan that I believe monitors were knocked down onto Tony Khan. So he was right there and he saw everything. And a lot of people were right there and they saw everything. And so [it] ended up with Jack separated. Samoa Joe grabs him, and they get broken apart.”

Following this physical dispute, Alvarez corroborates previous reports that Punk threatened to quit. In the heat of the moment, Punk also wanted to call off his match with Joe, which left AEW reportedly scrambling in an attempt to alter their match order. After FTR and The Young Bucks informed AEW officials they weren’t ready to open All In, the company looked toward the six-man tag match between The Golden Elite and Bullet Club Gold & Konosuke Takeshita as a potential opener. As the six-man tag bout competitors were preparing to kick off the main show, though, Joe reportedly convinced Punk to stick with the original plan. Despite its delayed start, Punk and Joe ultimately went out into Wembley Stadium to complete their match.

After initial reports suggested that Perry “came at Punk and got choked” moments before Punk’s All In match with Samoa Joe, former TNT Champion Miro claimed (via Twitter) that side of the story was “fake and untrue.” According to Alvarez, this was the result of Miro getting into an argument with Punk after “The Second City Saint” successfully defended his “real” AEW Championship.

Alvarez says he was told that Punk was approached by Miro as he walked through the backstage curtain following his match with Joe. After Miro asked Punk what had happened with Perry, Punk reportedly asked Miro if he had a problem with him, as well. While the exact details of their alleged dispute are still unclear, Alvarez indicated that the argument stayed within the confines of the backstage area and was not “taken outside,” as was threatened.

It’s important to note that both PWInsider and Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling have said they were told the aforementioned situation between Miro and Punk did not happen. Alvarez maintains that he heard the story from multiple sources.