Photo: Courtesy of All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling CEO, President, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan announced the termination of "the wrestler and employment agreements between" the company and Phillip Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, stemming from an incident that "endangered" people backstage.
Khan confirmed that the termination followed a weeklong internal investigation into an incident involving Brooks at the record-setting All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium last Sunday (August 27) and "a unanimous recommendation" by the AEW Discipline Committee.
"Phil played an important role within AEW and I thank him for his contributions," Khan said in a statement shared on AEW's social media accounts Saturday (September 2) afternoon. "The termination of his AEW contracts with cause is ultimately my decision, and mine alone. Of course, I wish I didn't have to share this news, which may come as a disappointment to many of our fans. Nevertheless, I am making the decision in the best interests of the many amazing people who make AEW possible every week -- our talent, staff, venue operators and many others whose efforts are unsung but essential to brining our fans great shows on television and at arenas and stadiums throughout the world."
Khan later appeared in a prerecorded video addressing the AEW fans during the live broadcast of Collision, a show Punk was featured on weekly, which took place at the United Center in the wrestler's hometown of Chicago, Illinois, one day prior to the All Out event also scheduled to be held at the same arena.
"The incident was regrettable and it endangered people backstage, that includes the production staff, the people who help put the show on every week, innocent people who have nothing to do with it," Khan said. "I've been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. I've been producing them on this network [TNT] for nearly four years. Never, in all that time, have I ever felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was endanger at a wrestling show.
"I don't think anybody should feel that way at work, I don't think the people I work with should feel that way and I had to make a very difficult choice today."
Various reports indicated that Brooks was involved in a backstage incident with fellow wrestler Jack Perry, the son of late actor Luke Perry, after Perry's match against HOOK. The two were previously reported to have been involved in a heated exchange when Brooks reportedly advised Perry not to use real glass in a segment.
During the live broadcast of his All In pre-show match, which took place minutes before Punk's show-opening match against Samoa Joe, Perry slammed HOOK into the windshield of a car, looked directly into the camera, knocked on the car's windshield and said, "real glass, go cry me a river."
Varying reports indicated that Brooks and Perry were involved in the Wembley Stadium incident during the brief period between their matches, with later reports claiming Khan and other production staff were dragged into the melee. Confirmed details were not released amid the investigation last week.
Brooks returned to AEW for the launch of Collision in June after being put "on ice" by Khan, as reported by Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer in January. The former AEW and WWE champion's return came several months after he went on a tirade during his post-All Out media scrum prior to a physical altercation in September 2022, which launched an investigation into the incident and was later reported to have suffered a torn pectoral injury during his match that same night.
Brooks, who had won the AEW World Championship in the main event match of All Out, accused "irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs" of "spreading lies" and leaking information that he had falsely gotten his former best friend Scott 'Colt Cabana' Colton "fired," while also referring to former AEW Champion 'Hangman' Adam Page -- a longtime friend of Colton and The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)), the EVPs in question -- as "an empty headed f*****g dumb f***" for going "out on national television and f*****g go into business for himself" during a promo opposite Punk ahead of their title match at Double or Nothing in May 2022.
The comments led to a reported physical altercation involving himself, his original wrestling trainer Ace Steel -- who served as an AEW backstage producer at the time -- and the Elite, who had won the inaugural AEW World Trios titles earlier in the night.
Steel was reportedly fired for his role in the skirmish in October, Meltzer reported at the time. Other individuals suspended in relation to the incident that have since returned to their television and/or backstage roles included:
- Kenny Omega
- Matt Jackson
- Nick Jackson
- Ace Steel
- Pat Buck
- Christopher Daniels
- Michael Nakazawa
- Brandon Cutler
Brooks defeated then-AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley during All Out's main event before a returning Maxwell Jacob Friedman revealed himself to be the disguised 'Joker' entrant in a ladder match won earlier in the night to earn a title shot, teasing another feud with Punk as the show went off-air. AEW then announced a tournament to decide the new World Heavyweight Champion the following night, which was won by Moxley on the September 21 episode of Dynamite, who later lost the title to Friedman at Full Gear.
Brooks later revealed the title that he never lost during an appearance on Collision and painted a large X over it, claiming he was the 'Real World Championship,' despite Friedman being recognized AEW's actual world champion.