Stephen P. New, CM Punk‘s lawyer, comments on his AEW release.
AEW terminated CM Punk’s contract on September 2 after he was involved in a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW All In. The terms of Punk’s release were unclear, and fans buzzed about his future until he returned to WWE at WWE Survivor Series on November 25.
Punk’s lawyer Stephen P. New appeared on the latest episode of Rumor & Innuendo with Nick Hausman & Robert Karpeles. He was asked whether CM Punk had a non-compete clause with his release. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“I can’t really speak to that with respect to Punk,” New said. “What I can say is that the contracts vary for whether or not non-competes remain in place, the types of terminations and that sort of thing. In terms of him specifically, there is no way I can get into that,” he said.
New also stated that it was “clear why” Punk was released, as detailed in AEW’s statement on the matter.
In the aftermath of the incident at AEW All In, Tony Khan said that he had feared for his life, as Punk had put those around him in danger. When asked about these comments, New said that Khan was welcome to share his feelings.
Punk later returned to the WWE ring at the WWE live event on December 26. He has been advertised for the January 8 episode of WWE RAW.
