This August marks one year since CM Punk‘s AEW career came to an end. The release came after he was embroiled in a physical backstage altercation with Jack Perry. Following this incident, numerous comments surfaced about Punk’s attitude during his time at the company. Several people pointed out that his behavior had been problematic.

Some even described him as a kind of “cancer” for the work environment. They stated that the situation in the company would improve without his presence. So CM Punk decided to return to the Stamford-based promotion instead. Punk’s return to WWE has marked a new chapter in his career, one that seems to be headed for a more positive and less controversial conclusion than in the past. After a tumultuous stint in AEW, both the company and fans have taken well to his return to WWE.

However, the same cannot be said about All Elite Wrestling. It seems that the Tony Khan-led promotion has been on a downward spiral ever since the Best in the World left their promotion. Bully Ray in the latest edition of the Busted Open Podcast spoke about this in detail. The pro wrestling veteran revealed that the major reason AEW is suffering is because they let Punk go. The Second City Saint was the one who brought eyeballs to the product. Now that he is no longer there, several fans have stopped watching the show.

Bully Ray said, “Dave, there’s no doubt that that has, that, CM Punk not being there has something to do with it. We always talk about, and we’ve learned this in life. Numbers don’t lie. There is not one metric in AEW that is heading north, to heading south. One of the biggest hits that AEW took was the quote-unquote punk situation. Punk leaving. I believe the two biggest factors in AEW right now is the departure of Cody Rhodes, and the departure of CM Punk. Tied in with a lot of the other issues the company is having.” 

He further added, “When Punk got there, the numbers turned up. Did he, did he pop the territory? No. Did he pop some ratings? Yes. You can definitively look at the numbers and say when CM Punk was on a certain show, more people tuned into Dynamite and/or Collusion. Now that he has left, we are seeing for whatever reason, a slow exodus of the fan base. Week by week. This becomes the norm. Then this becomes the norm.” Well, it surely looks like Punk wasn’t that big of a problem for the promotion. In fact, he even came out in his defense and shunned the people who called him a cancer.

CM Punk talks about comments that his behavior at AEW hurt the company

During his recent participation in Fanatics Fest, CM Punk addressed the accusations that arose after he departed from AEW. Without avoiding getting into details, Punk claimed that all those accusations were completely false. He explained that he always treated people the same way he was treated. This meant that some received harsher treatment from him, while those who treated him well were treated accordingly.

Punk said, “That’s all bulls**t None of that stuff is reality. ‘Oh, he’s a cancer.’ Listen, not everybody gets nice to me. I treat you accordingly. If you’re a piece of s**t, and you act that way to me, I will treat you that way. If you’re nice, you’re smiling, you want to have a good time, let’s have a good time. I’m all hugs. It’s not like I’m two different people. There are just certain people, the ones that spread those lies and say those things about me, because they can’t control me and they can’t control the things I do and say. They absolutely hate that, so they try to control the way other people feel or see me. It’s bull. You’re going to have to make your own judgment and draw your own conclusion.”

Punk surely is against the opinion that he was the problem child in AEW. The Jacksonville-based promotion surely fumbled the bag by letting him go and keeping Jack Perry within the ranks instead. What do you think? Was Punk the ‘cancer’ in AEW? Let us know in the comments.