The saga of CM Punk and Colt Cabana is a convoluted one that dates back years, and involves lawsuits and falling outs. Professionally, it also reportedly led to Cabana’s removal from regular AEW programming once Punk joined the company, a conspiracy that AEW CEO Tony Khan has constantly refuted.
Conveniently, Colt Cabana returned to AEW as the mystery challenger for Chris Jericho’s ROH World Championship on the November 2 AEW Dynamite, which came at a time when reports of CM Punk’s AEW contract being bought out were heating up. This was, however, confirmed to be a one-off appearance for the former Dark Order man, who currently remains part of the ROH roster.
Ric Flair Quizzed Colt Cabana On His Longstanding Issues With CM Punk
As he told on his To Be The Man podcast, Ric Flair once encountered Colt Cabana, asking him about his issues with CM Punk. As Cabana bluntly put it, “it’s a long story”:
“Colt Cabana walked up to me the other day. Colt Cabana came over and wanted my autograph and I didn’t know who he was. I’ve never met him, right, and the guy goes, ‘This is Colt Cabana’. Then I stood up and shook his hand. I said, ‘What’s going on with you and Punk?’ He said, ‘It’s a long story’. So, Punk’s got more long stories with people than I do. [Cabana is] a nice kid…really good worker.”
As noted by Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Colt Cabana’s aforementioned return on AEW Dynamite “made things worse” between CM Punk and AEW management. Punk has remained absent from the company since his actions during the All Out media scrum, where the two-time AEW World Champion took umbrage with key executives, Cabana, ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, and others.
The Elite’s Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, who were also suspended as a result of their involvement, are due to return to AEW at the Full Gear pay-per-view. They’ll challenge Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championships.