CM Punk’s AEW return is once again in doubt, and the star took to social media to blast wrestling journalist Bryan Alvarez amidst reports about his status.
While Punk hasn’t been seen in All Elite Wrestling since the melee following AEW All Out, an April report indicated that he was on his way back to the company and expected to be central to the debut of a new Saturday night broadcast called AEW Collision. Collision was officially announced today as part of Warner Bros Discovery’s upfront conference, but Punk’s name was nowhere to be seen.
An email containing links to the company’s official press release made mention of his name, but when asked for comment, WBD adamantly denied that Punk was affiliated with Collision. A report from PWInsider shed light on the situation, claiming that Punk and AEW are once again at odds over the return of Punk’s friend and trainer Ace Steel. Steel was fired as a result of his participation in the All Out brawl, where he allegedly threw a chair at Nick Jackson and bit Kenny Omega.
A tweet from Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer indicated there was “definitely a story” to the CM Punk situation, and now Punk himself has taken to social media to take Alvarez to task.
Posting in his Instagram stories, Punk blasted Alvarez for “making up rumors and stories for clicks,” saying:
“Look everyone, Bryan Alvarez doesn’t like it when misinformed internet trolls make up rumors about him so please stop making up rumors and stories for clicks while Bryan makes up rumors and stories for clicks okay? He’s married for gods sake! By gawd that man has a family!!! (Bryan Alvarez shut the f*ck up and stop talking about me challenge day 1)”
In his next story, Punk shared a screenshot of an email written by Alvarez in which the journalist claims to have no problem with the former World Champion, making mention of alleged heat stemming from the fact that Punk dated Maria Kanellis. The email seems to be in reference to an old report from Alvarez about Punk’s conduct around women in the WWE locker room.
“Maybe Stop” – CM Punk Wants People To Stop Talking About Him
Continuing, Punk said that he’s tired of being the one “propping up the entire misinformed clickbait industry,” writing:
“Friendly reminder: I haven’t been on tv in nine months and y’all still just can’t stop talking about me. Maybe stop, you’ll feel better. Love, hate, it’s all the same. I don’t enjoy being the sole person that props up entire misinformed clickbait industry based on toxic gossip from lying sources, but what can you do? When you’re the king, it comes with the crown.”
Journalist David Bixenspan, who is referenced in the email, responded to the posts by pointing out that the email in question is more than a decade old. He also provided screenshots of the IG stories, which can be seen below.
Wait…you do all realize that the email from Bryan Alvarez to some friend of CM Punk is from roughly 2009-2010, right? As Punk's other Story posts show, he's posting it to shade *Bryan*.
I *think* I knew about this at the time, but I don't remember who Bryan sent the email to. pic.twitter.com/jqtmmXAunr
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) May 17, 2023
As for Alvarez, he simply replied “LOL WAT.”