CM Punk has taken to his Instagram to respond to reports about him not wanting wrestle then-AEW Interim Champion Jon Moxley leading up to the AEW All Out PPV last September.
CM Punk had suffered a foot injury shortly after winning the AEW World Championship from Hangman Page at the AEW Double or Nothing PPV. Jon Moxley had become the interim AEW World Champion before he beat Punk in a squash unification title match back on the August 24 episode of AEW Dynamite.
CM Punk has taken to Instagram in a since-deleted post where he addresses the pitch for his program with Moxley, saying that he was not fully cleared to wrestle when he did the first match. Punk called out a certain reporter and called him a liar. He also called Chris Jericho a liar and a stooge.
“SIGH. I wasn’t cleared to come back to wrestle yet. Then plan was to wrestle at the ppv. I sat and listened to Moxley’s Rocky three idea. I explained how I’d never seen a Rocky movie and thought the idea sucked but if the boss wanted to do it whatever. He said he wouldn’t lose to me. I’d never experienced someone refusing to lose to me. I just laughed. I asked Tony if this was what he wanted. He said yes. He’s the boss so I said okay but I’d need to be cleared first. They kept saying it could just be a squash so I didn’t need to be cleared. I scoffed at that. My health is more important. Dave Meltzer is a liar. Jericho is a liar and a stooge. There were plans but plans always change but I’ll never put a company above my health ever again.”
CM Punk won the AEW World Championship at the All Out pay-per-view last September. He was suspended and stripped of the title after he had backstage fight with AEW EVP’s Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks.
According to PWInsider, the time period in question appears to be where Moxley was in between AEW deals, although there is no word if that may have been a factor.
PWInsider also notes that Punk was not cleared at the time due to severely injuring his foot, which he later described as having “pulverised” his bones, during a six man tag team match on the June 1, 2022 episode of Dynamite. it was apparent, per PWInsider Punk was cleared in time to return to quickly lose to Jon Moxley before the rematch at the 2022 All Out pay-per-view, where he regained the championship. He tore his triceps at some point during the match.
PWInsider further notes that Punk deleted his Instagram Story in which he posted a photo of the Lethal Weapon character Roger Murtaugh, with the famous catchphrase, “I’m too old for this sh–“. It is believed that Punk is still under his current AEW contract.