CM Punk reportedly had words for Ryan Nemeth backstage at a previous AEW taping.
Before he was not allowed into the arena for AEW Collision, Nemeth was confronted by CM Punk on the June 21 episode of Dynamite due to the tweet where Nemeth called Punk “the softest man alive.” According to Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch, Punk got near nose-to-nose with Nemeth, aggressively asking him if they had a problem with one another and if they needed to settle matters outside. Punk stated to Nemeth that his tweet incited up unnecessary conflict, causing needless tension and was bad optics. This argument was witnessed by others in the locker room who labeled the incident as awkward and weird.
Nemeth reportedly did take it outside, but only continue the argument. Nemeth defended himself, stating that Punk began it all by firing the first shot with his “Counterfeit Bucks” line, but Punk stated that Nemeth’s comments were poorly timed and brushed against the public image the company was going for. Nemeth asked if he should not make comments regarding what Punk says on TV to which Punk thought was a good idea. The two shook hands, and according to Fightful, Nemeth reportedly apologized, but tensions were still high. That was further indicated on Saturday.
CM Punk’s Reported Mentality Backstage At AEW Collision
While there was certainly drama that evening, CM Punk’s reported goal is to keep a low-drama environment backstage at Collision. This was the reason as to why Nemeth was not allowed backstage on Saturday, along with Hangman Page and Christopher Daniels. Matt Hardy was also reportedly booked for Collision tapings, but then removed.
According to Keller, CM Punk looks at Colliision as his show to operate and provide leadership behind-the-scenes, something he doesn’t believe Dynamite is getting from their EVPs.
In a new interview following the events that took place, Tony Khan was asked about what happened at the tapings.