If there's one thing you've always been able to say about CM Punk, it's that he has enemies.
Punk was one of the most polarizing figures in the professional wrestling world before he ever made it to WWE, let alone since he walked out of Vince McMahon's company in 2014 due to alleged medical negligence, frustrations with creative, and more. Following his controversial appearance on former friend Colt Cabana's "The Art of Wrestling" podcast, where he bashed the wrestling business and WWE as a whole, Punk largely stayed out of the limelight outside of a brief, failed UFC run. He shockingly returned to wrestling in AEW in 2021, where his short run with Tony Khan's company was heavily marked by controversy.
None of this made Punk any friends in the industry, nor did the physical brawls behind the scenes that ultimatelyled to him being fired by AEW President Tony Khan, who infamously stated he "feared for his life" backstage at Wembley Stadium. Equally shocking, if not more so, was hisreturn to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames in Chicago in 2023. Many fans thought Punk would never come back to the company after he was officially fired on his own wedding day, but with Vince McMahon out and Paul "Triple H" Levesque (who Punk once referred to as McMahon's "doofus son-in-law") at the head of creative, the prodigal son came home joining a locker room full of WWE stars who were already typing out their worked shoot promos about how long he had been gone.
From t-shirt grudges and proprietary fights over finishing moves tobackstage battles and eating at press conferences, there are plenty of wrestlers who can't stand Punk, both in AEW and his current home of WWE. And if you asked him about this list, he'd probably just name a few more we forgot.
The most infamous backstage incident involving Punk is now known in wrestling lore as "Brawl Out."At a press conference following AEW All Out 2022, newly-crowned AEW World Champion CM Punk vented his frustrations with company EVPs the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and "Hangman" Adam Page, all while seated beside AEW President Tony Khan. Punk went in on the Bucks for what he perceived as their ineffectiveness as EVPs, going as far as to say "they couldn't manage a Target" and called Page an"empty-headed dumb f***."Punk also claimed the Bucks leaked information to media members that he had pushed to get Colt Cabana moved from AEW to ROH following Punk's hiring. The press conference was the first time Punk uttered his now-iconic line "I'm hurt, and I'm old, and I'm f***ing tired, and I work with f***ing children."
Punk's comments led to the Bucks and fellow EVP Kenny Omega paying a visit to Punk's locker room, precipitating a brawl in which Punk's good friend Ace Steel allegedly bit Omega, leaving a visible mark, Nick Jackson took a chair shot to the eye, and Omega had to protect Punk's dog, Larry, who nonetheless had some teeth loosened during the incident. Others backstage who attempted to stop the brawl included Christopher Daniels, Brandon Cutler, Pat Buck, and Michael Nakazawa, who were also investigated following the incident. Steel was the only one fired.
In the fallout, Punk was moved to AEW's newest show, "AEW Collision," and The Elite kept their spot on "AEW Dynamite."Omega clarified his relationship with Punk in April 2024, and said they "were never bad," and there is mutual respect there. He said he doesn't believe there are any issues between them. As of this writing and Punk now in WWE, his relationship with the Bucks has not been mended.
Punk and "Hangman" Adam Page had problems with each other prior to Brawl Out and Punk calling him an "empty headed dumb f***," so there's no mystery as to why Page joined in with the Young Bucks and Omega to confront him. Punk and Page were set to clash at Double or Nothing in 2022. Prior to their pay-per-view bout, Page cut a promo on "Dynamite" and allegedly went off script, saying he needed to save the company from someone like Punk. He supposedly did so because of the backstage belief that Punk tried to convince Tony Khan to get rid of Colt Cabana, something both Khan and Punk denied. The star called out Punk for publicly supporting workers' right, but not following suit privately backstage.
The pair battled at Double or Nothing, and Punk defeated Page with the GTS, earning his first championship gold in the company. His title reign was short lived, however, as he suffered an injury that put him on the shelf and AEW crowned an interim champion. Their feud, and real-life heat which had yet to be made public, cooled until Punk's return in August to battle Jon Moxley.
"The Straight Edge Superstar" called out Page on an episode of "Dynamite," despite not feuding in storyline with him, and when he knew "Hangman" wouldn't be able to respond. He called Page's actions "coward s***." During the All Out press conference, Punk said that Page went into business for himself during the promo.After once again taking shots at Page on an episode of "Collision," saying his action figures were "peg warmers" in comments that weren't approved by AEW, Punk reportedly apologize to Page.
Page has never publicly apologized or even mentioned his real-life heat with Punk. That's despite an even more recent shot taken at him by Punk, over the use of the term "move set,"a term Page used on social media to subtly call out Logan Paul.
Former World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin'" Rollins has been able to turn his real-life hatred of Punk into a storyline angle that culminated on the "WWE Raw" Netflix debut, but "The Visionary's" visceral reaction when Punk made his surprise return to WWE following the WarGames match Rollins was part of didn't go unnoticed by millions of fans watching. Rollins has repeatedly called Punk a "cancer" to the business, both well before and after his return to the company.
In an interview following Brawl Out when rumors began swirling that Punk could return to WWE, Rollins said in an interview with WINC that he didn't like Punk. He called him a jerk and said that he didn't want him back in WWE.Rollins told Sports Illustrated Media in 2024 that he thought Punk was selfish. He said "The Second City Saint" said some bad things about him and talked down about the industry for years, and he was insulted by it all. He said he wouldn't get into anything involved Colt Cabana, but said he felt like Punk was a fraud in that sense, as well. Rollins admitted he wouldn't call it hatred, but deep-rooted animosity.
Following their match on "Raw," Rollins sat down with Jackie Redmond and further explained his issues with Punk. He spoke about Punk helping him when he started out in WWE, and they were even friends. Rollins explained everything went south, likely when Punk walked out of the company.Rollins previously claimed that his former friend and mentor "ghosted" him and his other friends in WWE when he left in 2014. In the same interview, Rollins said their rivalry, sparked by real-life heat, will likely go on for a long time.
NJPW's KENTA is another wrestler who has had ongoing beef with Punk, primarily over their use of the same finishing maneuver, the Go To Sleep, or GTS.KENTA has not been shy about declaring that the GTS was his creation, and he believes Punk stole it. Back in April 2020, KENTA quote-posted a video on X (then known as Twitter) of him hitting the move on another wrestler in the ring. He said in the post that the video showed his very first GTS before someone used it in WWE.
When Danhausen used the move, he tagged Punk in a post on social media. Punk responded and said the AEW star should ask KENTA, because he "seemed sensitive" about it.KENTA got the last word, quoting Punk's post and calling him out. He said he was excited to see anyone but Punk use the GTS.KENTA claimed he wasn't allowed to use the finisher during his time in WWE when he wrestled on "WWE NXT" and "205 Live" under the ring name Hideo Itami.
The NJPW star called out Punk for matches back when he was working in AEW, and the pair almost faced off at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door in 2023, but the match was either reportedly scrapped or never going to happen in the first place.When Punk was fired from AEW in 2023, KENTA seemingly celebrated, once again posting to social media, declaring "WELCOME BACK MY GO 2 SLEEP."
Despite working with Punk during their feud in AEW, Eddie Kingston is no fan of the man himself. The pair had a series of face-offs in late 2021, that ended with Punk scoring a victory over Kingston at Full Gear. After the match, Punk offered the star his hand, but Kingston refused to shake it.
Their bad blood started in their early days on the independent scene,where Punk called Kingston a "bum" for not living up to his full potential. Following their feud in the ring, Kingston admitted it was triggering for him mentally and their back and forth was hard on him. Kingston explained he had to "walk away from everybody" at some points, because he got so into it. He said he felt like he was 17 again, where he wanted to fight everyone.
On an episode of "Inside the Ropes," Kingston said there was nothing fake about the hatred in their feud. He said the entire thing was real, that he doesn't like Punk, and Punk doesn't like him. Kingston said he doesn't wish him well or wish bad upon him, he just doesn't care about him.Kingston said he didn't "give a f***" about Punk, unless he had to fight him, and said Punk felt the same way.
Former AEW talent Bobby Fish is another wrestler who can't stand Punk and has spoken out against him after they shared a locker room in the company. Fish called Punk "kind of a bully" due to his behavior backstage.The feud started in 2021 when Fish seemed to take a shot on social media at Punk during his "Dynamite" squash match where Jon Moxley captured the AEW World Championship from "The Straight Edge Superstar."In the post, Fish subtly told Punk to leave the head kicks to "the professionals."
Fish then addressed the Brawl Out situation on an episode of his "Undisputed" podcast and challenged Punk to a shoot fight, and even said it could take place in Chicago.The former Undisputed Era member went as far as calling Punk the "c word" multiple times in an interview with NBC Sports Boston. Fish told the outlet that Punk was acting out after a match they had against each other. Fightful Select reported at the time that Punk was unhappy that Fish attempted to kick out of the GTS, and that's what initially caused issues between the pair.
Issues between CM Punk and The Miz seemingly stem from the "Awesome" one headlining a WrestleMania before Punk did. Miz main evented WrestleMania 27 and it didn't seem to sit well with "The Second City Saint," who was also on the card in a match with Randy Orton, which Punk lost. WWE released a DVD about Punk called "Best in the World" in 2013, and Miz put over Punk as someone everyone in Ohio Valley Wrestling wanted to work with. Punk didn't return the kind words, and expressed his distaste over Miz headlining WrestleMania before him.
Their feud really came to a head when Punk was hosting "WWE Backstage" and The Miz a guest on another WWE show, "The Bump." During Miz's appearance, he joked that he didn't "change the culture." When Punk made his shocking debut on his show on FOX, he famously said he would change the culture, and took Miz's words as a jab at him. He went on a now-deleted social media rant against the "A-lister" and infamously told him to"Go suck a blood money covered d*** in Saudi Arabia you f***ing dork."
The Miz revealed in July 2024 that he and Punk had buried the hatchet when Punk returned at Survivor Series. Miz said they had a really good conversation when they met in a stairwell at the arena.
Despite being the one to give Punk a platform to air his grievances in the first place, Punk and Colt Cabana are no longer friends following battles within a courtroom. After what would come to be known as one of the most important interviews within wrestling history, WWE and a doctor mentioned by Punk in the podcast sued both men, and it ended up costing them their friendship.
Following the trial, it was revealed Punk and Cabana filed lawsuits against each other. Cabana claimed his friend offered to pay his legal fees and they had a verbal contract. He argued that he should be reimbursed for his legal fees after Punk's team were no longer handling Cabana's side of the initial suit. Punk took to social media to address the lawsuit and alleged his former friend tried to extort him. He replied to a fan and said Cabana wouldn't speak to him or enter mediation. Punk said when he offered money, it wasn't enough.
The bad blood continued into AEW, where Cabana had already been working when Punk was hired. Rumors had been floating backstage that Punk tried to get Cabana fired. Tony Khan had initially not re-signed Cabana to the company, and many backstage thought it was partially Punk's doing.Cabana was one topic of Punk's infamous All Out press conference rant, where he said Cabana "shares a bank account with his mother" as an insult, and said their relationship was over long before he "paid all of Cabana's bills."
Cabana has never publicly commented on their status of their relationship after their falling out, but Punk mentioned Cabana during an interview with Ariel Helwani, where he said things remain unchanged. He said Cabana tried to talk to him once at a show, but Punk said he would never talk to his former friend without a lawyer present.
One wrestler who is no fan of Punk following "The Art of Wrestling" podcast and Punk's rants is former WWE star Ryback. Punk revealed on the podcast he thought Ryback was an unsafe worker in the matches they had in WWE and called him dangerous in the ring to the point the bigger man took years off his life. "The Straight Edge Superstar" alleged Ryback once kicked him hard in the stomach and broke his ribs and he never received an apology.
Following the release of the podcast, Ryback started taking shots at Punk on social media and his YouTube channel any chance he could get. He said on an episode of his own "Conversations With The Big Guy Ryback" podcast back in 2020 that Colt Cabana had apologized to him about what was said on "The Art of Wrestling" and shook his hand. Ryback said until Punk does the same, he'll continue to throw shade at him.Ryback said that Punk single-handedly caused a lot of people not to like him.
As of 2024 and Punk's return to WWE, it didn't seem like the feud between the two men is over. Ryback called Punk an "egotistical, psychotic, lying, manipulative f***ing coward" on social media ahead of WrestleMania 40, while Punk was doing media appearances. He alsocriticized Punk's bloody Hell in a Cell match against Drew McIntyre at Bad Blood. Ryback quote-posted a photo of McIntyre's injuries, and said whoever did that to him is "beyond reckless and very dangerous to work with," using Punk's own words against him.
