CM Punk made his long-awaited return to AEW on the June 17 episode of AEW Collision, and controversy continues to surround him.
Punk had been absent since AEW All Out 2022; he suffered a torn triceps, and he got into a backstage altercation with The Elite ((Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) after he made heated comments about them at the post-show media scrum.
Since Punk’s return, a reported backstage divide has generated plenty of buzz, given the previous issues between Punk and The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks).
In an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Eddie Kingston shared his thoughts on Punk’s return on the premiere of AEW Collision.
“He did it his way and that’s the way wanted to do it,” Kingston said. “I expected it. I knew it was happening, knowing Punk and what he thought was right for him. That’s it. I see the reports. I see the clickbait on YouTube. But the locker room is not divided, not the people I hang out with. Punk’s gonna do what Punk does and if whatever Punk does helps this company, no one can say anything.”
When asked whether there has been a backstage feeling that Punk’s comments have bothered a large portion of the locker room, Kingston stated that, as far as he was concerned, the people he hangs out with don’t feel the way.
“Not me, man,” Kingston said. “Not my crew of people I hang out with. Maybe there’s that one percent that are bothered but the people I chill with, they’re good. They don’t care.”
Following Punk’s return, he appeared on the June 21 episode of AEW Dynamite and noted that he wasn’t supposed to be there because he was a “Collision guy.”
Kingston will compete at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, as he will team up with The Elite and Tomohiro Ishii to face Blackpool Combat Club, Shota Umino, and Konosuke Takeshita. WrestleZone will have coverage of the show as it airs.
