CM Punk landed himself in hot water this past weekend when he cut a divisive promo following AEW Collision which saw him take several shots at Hangman Adam Page. Punk branded Page as “a peg warmer, unlike me who moves merchandise and pops ratings and sells toys” before taking a shot at AEW stars who believe they are the heart, soul, and spirit of the promotion, a statement made in the past by The Elite.
On today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, it was noted that Punk apologized to Page via a text message following the promo per both sides of the incident. Haus of Wrestling can corroborate that Punk sent a text message apology to Page. It was also reported on Observer Radio that the promo was meant to be an attempt at comedy that “backfired” and Punk realised it didn’t go as planned as soon as he said it.
Later in the episode, Dave Meltzer also revealed that AEW management created an agreement prior to Punk’s return that he could not make any negative public comments about Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks and that the trio would have the same stipulation placed on them regarding Punk. However, Adam Page is seemingly not part of this agreement as management did not insist that Punk couldn’t say anything negative relating to Page when the agreement was stipulated.
In the days following the incident, Wrestling Observer reported that Page was originally sent to Greensboro to record a pre-taped interview for Wednesday’s edition of Dynamite but when he arrived he was told he would have to do the pre-tape away from the arena and could not attend the show. Talents such as Ryan Nemeth, Matt Hardy and the company’s Head of Talent Relations Christopher Daniels have faced similar issues after previously being booked for Collision, as noted on yesterday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
Haus of Wrestling was able to confirm yesterday that Daniels and Nemeth’s absences from Collision stem from issues with CM Punk. Daniels’s involvement in last year’s post-AEW All Out backstage altercation was specifically portrayed to us as the reason The Fallen Angel is not at Collision. Since Ace Steel, Punk’s good friend, was also involved in the altercation but is not allowed to return backstage for Collision, Punk is said to feel the same about Daniels and does not want him backstage either.
Meanwhile, Nemeth was asked to leave Collision due to comments on his now-deactivated Twitter account where he called Punk the “softest man alive.” Punk is said to not be looking for any drama backstage at Collision and felt Nemeth’s previous comments showed his willingness to unnecessarily stir the pot in the locker room.