CM Punk Has Reportedly Been So Unhappy Backstage At AEW That Some Thought He May Quit

Last night's "AEW Dynamite" started with an absolute bang when CM Punk called out AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, and Eddie Kingston. Since the show aired, it's been reported that Punk went off script when he called out Page for a rematch from their bout earlier this year, knowing prior that the former champion wouldn't appear to accept his challenge.

After defeating Page at Double or Nothing in May, Punk was forced to sit on the sidelines for several months nursing a foot injury. Although the feud between Punk and Page ended that night, the two supposedly haven't seen eye-to-eye since the build-up to their match.

According to a recent report from Fightful Select, Punk met with AEW higher-ups about the context of one of Page's promos, telling others after the meeting that he wouldn't lose to Page at the pay-per-view. The report also states that people within AEW felt that last night's promo was "unfair" to Page, given that he wasn't aware it was going to happen, putting him in a no-win situation as he couldn't interrupt a promo he wasn't supposed to be involved in.

Fightful also mentioned that Page was in the building last night, but haven't received on any word on how he responded to the promo. That said, they note that he's not viewed as a confrontational person and is "generally well-liked" by the talent. The report relays that many backstage believe that Punk thought Hangman went into business for himself, with Punk using his promo last night as a "receipt" to Page, but this was reported largely as locker room speculation rather than anything Punk said himself. Although there are several reports suggesting what might have caused Punk's frustrations, Fightful does state that they're unclear where the crux of his issues has come from.

The meatiest part of the Fightful report claims that Punk has been expressing his displeasure verbally, sometimes so blatantly that some thought he might quit AEW. People close to the former WWE Champion told Fightful that "he might have almost decided to stay home" instead of showing up last night, but don't believe "The Best in the World" would've quit. Fightful also stated they haven't been given any inkling to believe that Punk will leave AEW, but they have been told by one All Elite veteran that they've heard "threats being levied" by Punk.

Punk is officially set to unify the AEW World Championship on next week's Dynamite against the interim champion Jon Moxley, with the decision for that match happening very late. According to Fightful, they weren't given any context on how late this decision was made, as the match was previously scheduled to happen at All Out in Punk's hometown of Chicago.