Why Did CM Punk Leave AEW? Why Was The Wrestler Fired?

One of the most famous wrestlers, Punk, began his career with WWE in 2005. You might recognize him as Punk, but his real name is Phil Brooks. A Chicago native and a major star in the city, the 44-year-old wrestler has been one of the most popular stars in the pro wrestling world for over the past 2 decades.

Initially, he went to Ohio Valley Wrestling and stayed for a year before moving to ECW and becoming its champion. As a champion, he gained recognition, which led him to get drafted to the Raw Brand in 2008. His time with Raw Brand included three World Heavyweight Championships, two WWE championships, the Tag Team Titles, and more accolades, all in the time of six years.

It’s undoubtedly true that Punk is a good wrestler, but one of his most iconic moments during his career has to be his rivalry with John Cena. The time his rivalry with Cena took center stage made him one of the hottest wrestlers in 2011.

You might recall his shoot interview on the June 27 edition of Raw. In it, he went after Cena, Vince McMahon, Triple H, and The Rock, which is still one of the most notorious moments in the show’s history.

That’s not the end of this rivalry because later, Punk took Cena down in front of his hometown crowd in Chicago, which was one of the best matches of his career.

Punk And His Wrestling Career Over The Years

Punk stayed with WWE for three years but decided to leave. There weren’t any issues between him and WWE, but he mentioned on an episode of The Art Of Wrestling that he was sick, hurt, tired, and burnt out. That’s the reason he decided to walk out and said he could do it since he was an independent contractor.

Years later, he signed a contract with UFC and got to fight twice in 2016. Once again, he changed paths and started working as a special guest and contributor on WWE Backstage in 2019.

He finally returned to wrestling with AEW, All Elite Wrestling in 2021. During his time with the company, he won the AEW World Championship and also got engaged in a heated feud with MJF. Punk has always had a certain way of behaving, but nothing serious happened to him during this feud. From September 2022 to June 2023, Punk had to sit out due to a torn bicep. 

Although he had a rough attitude and won titles, it wasn’t until this year he had to pay the price for behaving that way. Two months later, Punk finally said goodbye to his AEW career. Tony Khan, AEW’s CEO, general manager, and head of creative, terminated his contract with the company.

Why Was CM Punk Fired? 

The reason behind this sudden termination was Punk’s backstage incident with Jack Perry. On 27^th August, at AEW All In London, Punk got into a fight with Jack, which was the tipping point.

Punk and Jack, another fellow AEW wrestler, got into a physical altercation, but some report that this incident wasn’t the entire reason behind Punk’s termination. Khan had mentioned that he had been going to these wrestling shows for years, but never in his life had he felt like he was in danger.

That day, he felt his safety and his life might be in potential danger, and he didn’t want anybody else to feel the same way. The AEW’s CEO tried talking to Punk, hoping to get him refocused on the match, but he couldn’t effectively communicate with him.

CM Punk got fired after this whole incident during All In on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London, but while this door shut on him, another got opened. WWE offered him to return, and though he revealed he didn’t have any solid plans, he’s now back in WWE.

The incident might have been the real reason behind Punk’s termination with AEW, but some of the fans who have been watching him regularly think that the wrestler should have been fired over a year ago when he lit into his colleagues and was suspended for it. Well, now it’s all in the past, and CM Punk has decidedly separated ways with AEW, joining WWE, so it’s a matter of the past.