Last night’s Double or Nothing PPV event saw CM Punk capture the AEW World Championship from Hangman Adam Page, with Page’s internal conflict allowing Punk to capitalise and deliver the deciding GTS to end what was an outstanding match for the gold.
During the post-show media scrum, Punk discussed Page’s comments claiming himself to be defending AEW from CM Punk out of fear for what would happen if he became champion.
Punk responded at the post show media scrum by stating that the overwhelming reception to him backstage in AEW is positive, and that those who deem him unwelcome in the company aren’t worth his time.
“I’ve grown so wise in my old age that I’ll do my best to be as diplomatic as I possibly can with this answer. If there are people backstage that don’t like me, it’s a minority. If anybody says that nobody wants me here or nobody likes me, I like to say that nobodies don’t want me here and nobodies don’t like me,”
-CM Punk
Last night’s victory cemented CM Punk’s position as the face of the company, although the new AEW World Champion was keen to stress that AEW’s meteoric rise since his arrival has been a team effort, with a number of key signings contributing to the growth of the company.
“This is the onward and upward trajectory that AEW has been on for three years. You can say with the addition of me, we’re doing better, but I look at it as like, with the addition of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole and all the talent that Tony brings in every day is a step forward. it doesn’t necessarily start with me being champion. To me, it’s a team effort. I like to say, if you want to go fast, you go alone. if you want to go far, you go together. This is very much a team effort and a team environment backstage. I couldn’t do this alone. Obviously, this guy [Tony Khan], did bring me back to professional wrestling so all credit to him. It wasn’t easy to do. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be the champ. I take great responsibility in holding that title. If I’m the face of AEW, then I’m the face of AEW and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to not just put more money in my pocket, but his pocket and everybody’s pockets backstage and put on the best possible show every single time I can for all of you.”
-CM Punk
Later in the media scrum, Punk commented on his time in WWE, labelling that period of his career as a waste of nearly a decade and claiming that he spent most of it “standing on his own dick”. Punk also noted that he is not in the business of “trying to stand on his own dick”, and last night’s events certainly solidified Punk’s position back at the top of the pro-wrestling mountain.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
