In the aftermath of theAll Elite WrestlingAll Out pay-per-view event on September 4, CM Punk and Ace Steel were apparently involved in a real-life backstage altercation with Executive Vice Presidents Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. The fight reportedly happened during the AEW All Out media scrum, following some controversial remarksCM Punkmade about AEW’s EVPs.
CM Punk won the AEW World Championship at All Out by defeating Jon Moxley in the main event. After the match, Punk participated in theAEWmedia scrum alongside company president and CEO Tony Khan. It was then that Punk addressed online reports that accused him of getting Colt Cabana fired, which are rumors he seems to believe were started by the EVPs. Punk said the AEW EVPs were “irresponsible” and “couldn’t fing manage a Target.” Punk also addressed his issues with “Hangman” Adam Page, calling him an “empty-headed dumb f.“Click hereto watch the AEW media scrum, but note that there is some offensive language used.
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According to a report published by Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online, The Young Bucks andKenny Omegaconfronted Punk and Punk’s longtime friend/AEW producer Ace Steel backstage following the heated media scrum. There is disagreement as to who started the fight, but according to the reports, Punk allegedly punched Matt Jackson, and Ace Steel allegedly threw a chair at Nick Jackson, hard enough to cause a black eye. Steel is also accused of biting Kenny Omega and pulling his hair. No one involved in the incident has issued any kind of public comment so far. The embedded tweet allegedly shows a security guard running backstage to deal with the situation.
Of course, with it being professional wrestling, there’s always the chance that this backstage fight was fabricated to drum up interest in AEW, though it seems unlikely at this point. Fans may have a much better idea of how real or fake the conflict was by watching the next episode ofAEW Dynamite, scheduled to air from Buffalo, New York on September 7. If the incident is discussed, it’s possible it was planned, but if it’s ignored, it’s more likely that it was real.
The two main reasons why it seems many insiders think this conflict was legitimate is because it wasn’t filmed, and it didn’t have anything to do with on-air storylines. Kenny Omega andThe Young Bucksjust won the AEW World Trios Championship at All Out as fan-favorites, and CM Punk is a babyface himself. Not only that, but the AEW All Out pay-per-view ended with controversial wrestler MJF making his long-awaited return to the company as the #1 contender to CM Punk’s title. Since MJF was reportedly not involved with the backstage incident, the backstage fight didn’t elevate any on-air rivalries, but stranger things have happened in the world of pro wrestling.
