According to one AEW source, Ace Steel is fortunate not to be incarcerated after his involvement in CM Punk’s backstage altercation.
CM Punk is the talk of the wrestling world, and not just because he became a two time AEW World Champion with his defeat of Jon Moxley at All Out. The main topic on everyone’s minds are the comments made by Punk during the post-All Out media scrum, and the backstage altercation that followed.
While he didn’t mention them by name, CM Punk lambasted AEW EVP’s Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks during the media scrum saying they “couldn’t manage a Target.” He also had harsh words for Adam Page, who he did address by name and who he took an unscripted shot at on a recent episode of Dynamite.
Following the media scrum, the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega reportedly confronted Punk over his comments, and a backstage altercation ensued. Throughout Labor Day in the United States, more details became available about the fight, with some reports stating that Punk initiated the physicality by punching Matt Jackson and also that Punk’s trainer Ace Steel threw a chair at Nick Jackson and bit Kenny Omega.
PWInsider added more details, saying that once the media scrum was done, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks went to CM Punk’s locker room to confront the AEW World Champion. They were not been able to confirm who threw the first punch but that there was a physical altercation between CM Punk and the Jacksons. They reported that Kenny Omega was present but did not get physically involved with Punk himself. It was said that once the two sides were separated, there continued to be yelling for some time before the Elite exited the area of Punk’s locker room.
The report from PWInsider paints a picture of a divided locker room, with some backing Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks as the aggrieved parties due to CM Punk’s comments, and some backing Punk as they felt the AEW EVP’s shouldn’t have confronted Punk in the manner that they did. The majority of people seemed to believe that Punk should have expected to be confronted after making so many pointed comments.
PWInsider also noted that Ace Steel’s wife was in the vicinity of the fight as she was taking care of CM Punk’s dog Larry. FTR and Adam Page had both left by the time the incident occurred.
In yet another update, Fightful Select reports that one source said “Ace Steel shoot cracked Nick Jackson with a chair,” while another person said that Steel was lucky to not be in jail. Several of Fightful’s sources within the company don’t believe Steel will be back with the company after this incident.
According to the report, security was called and “many people” tried to break up the situation, with one person saying it was a matter of “trying to save lives.” Ace Steel was said to have had a huge amount of heat after the altercation.