Jim Cornette didn’t hold back with his feelings that The Young Bucks being afraid of CM Punk plays a part in the uncertainty about his return.
Back in April, it was reported that Punk was on his way back to All Elite Wrestling for the first time since his participation in the brawl following All Out. It was expected that he would be central to the announcement of AEW’s new Saturday night program called Collision, which is set to debut on June 17th.
The Collision announcement was made official on May 14th at the Warner Bros Discovery upfront, but Punk’s name was nowhere to be seen. While some believed Tony Khan may be saving the announcement of his return for Dynamite, it soon emerged that Punk was once again at odds with AEW over the return of his friend and trainer Ace Steel, who was fired after an investigation into the All Out brawl.
Khan made no mention of Punk during his announcement about Collision, and the location of the first broadcast has yet to be announced. It was originally planned that Collision would debut at the United Center in Chicago, but with Punk’s return in doubt, the debut location won’t be announced until May 24th.
“They’re Scared” – Jim Cornette On The Young Bucks Being Afraid Of CM Punk
When news of Punk’s potential return broke, it was reported that he was willing to put differences aside to work with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, but that the AEW EVP’s were less keen on the idea of working with Punk after such a public dispute.
Speaking exclusively to Inside the Ropes’ own Kenny McIntosh, longtime wrestling veteran Jim Cornette made it clear that he believes the AEW EVP’s are scared of CM Punk. According to Cornette, wrestlers in the past would find a way to work in the same promotion.
“Well, yeah, and the reason for that is on television, they can say, well, we were playing the heels. But in the locker room, they’re scared sh*tless of him and don’t want him anywhere around because he beat the sh*t out of them. That’s the difference, that’s the difference in this and the previous era of the wrestling business is that even if a guy lost a fight, he wasn’t scared to be around the f*cking guy. He just got p*ssed off about it and either left the territory or sucked it up and lived with it, but nobody was scared. And they’re scared.”
If you use any part of this transcription, please credit Kenny McIntosh and link back to this article with a h/t to Inside the Ropes.