Khan’s concern about Punk’s conduct threatening his safety extended beyond incident with Perry in front of others, SI reports

AEW announced yesterday via press release, social media, and announcements by Tony Khan at AEW Collision in Chicago last night that C.M. Punk had been fired. AEW cited Punk’s conduct backstage at All In in London, England at Wembley Stadium as the reason. Sports Illustrated reported that Khan’s reference to Punk’s conduct being out of line extended beyond what was seen near the Gorilla position when he got into a scuffle with Jack Perry.

“Punk was not dismissed solely because of his backstage altercation with Jack Perry last week in London at All In, though that did not help his cause,” wrote Justin Barasso. “His firing came after Khan felt physically threatened by Punk at All In during his attempt to get Punk refocused on the match. Unlike prior occasions, Khan was not able to effectively communicate or reason with Punk – and eyewitness accounts supporting Khan’s claim further ended any chance that Punk would return to AEW.”

This corroborates aspects of PWTorch’s report last Tuesday that key people in AEW believed Punk crossed a line with Khan he hadn’t before at All In in London, including an intense exchange between Khan and Punk after and separate from the scuffle with Perry. Excerpt:

PWTorch has learned Punk confronted TK in front of others and then at his locker room in what has been characterized as a heated, intense manner and, at one point, according to three sources who have heard about the situation, told Khan he quit and chewed out Khan with harsh phrasing.

Khan saying he feared for his life doesn’t necessarily reference some monitors falling over near him during the Punk-Perry scuffle; it could have been a reference to what happened away from that scene afterward as Khan was trying to calm Punk down and get him to agree to go out as scheduled for his PPV opening match against Samoa Joe. PWTorch reported last week that Punk quit and shortly thereafter rescinded quitting, but during that short span of time the production team began preparing to shift their attention to ring entrance music and graphics for a different match.

In front of fans last night in Chicago, Ill. at United Center before Collision went live, Khan told fans that All In was the first time he had ever feared for his safety and and life, and the safety of the people who work in AEW. He cited that some people behind the scenes who could’ve been hurt include people in their 60s with artificial joints. He said they shouldn’t be worried about getting hurt when they come to work.

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(Wade Keller is the editor, publisher, and founder of Pro Wrestling Torch and PWTorch.com. He has covered pro wrestling since 1987. He studied journalism and economics in college, interned at a major market broadcast news station (KMSP in Minneapolis/St. Paul), worked at KFAN radio for two years in the 1990s, hosted the “Ultimate Insiders” DVD series with international distribution, hosted the “Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast” on Podcast One and now on Spreaker, and has been a guest on the Steve Austin Podcast dozens of times as an analyst (nobody has been a guest with Austin more times). He has broken major pro wrestling stories in five separate decades and has interviewed some of pro wrestling’s most influential names in their longest insider interviews including Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Lou Thesz, Jesse Ventura, Jon Moxley, Jim Ross, Eric Bischoff, Bill Watts, Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette, Goldberg, Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, The Rock, Kevin Nash, and over 100 others including more than a dozen ex-WWE creative team members. He was inducted into the Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 for “Excellence in Wresting on Professional Wrestling” in a class with Beth Phoenix, B.Brian Blair, Greg Wojciechowski, Jim Londos, and Matt Lindland. He continues to cover pro wrestling here at PWTorch.com and on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast.)