AEW EVP Kenny Omega has broken his silence on the backstage altercation involving CM Punk that took place at All Out 2022.
During the post-All Out media scrum, then-AEW World Champion CM Punk went on a verbal tirade where he fired shots at numerous people within the company, including EVPs.
Punk was then reportedly involved in a physical altercation which resulted in Punk and a number of other individuals receiving suspensions.
In addition to CM Punk, several other AEW talents were suspended following the incident, including EVPs Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson.
During a recent stream on Twitch, Omega recalled the altercation, noting that his main aim was to create a peaceful environment for Punk’s dog Larry.
Omega said:
“I thought my duty as an EVP during Brawl Out would be to enter the situation while there was chaos, de-escalate it, and create a peaceful environment for everyone. I was able to create a peaceful environment for the most important person in that altercation, and that was Larry.
“I swear to God, honestly, that was my biggest concern and yeah it sounds funny, but like, I look at animals and our pets as people and as, you know, bobby of course the most most important people in my life. So, to get little Larry out of there was the most important thing to me and that was the success. Unfortunately, try as I may, things were too chaotic for me to be able to do anything By my own power.
“That was a moment when I had seen that there were…. I believe it was in that instance when I realized that… the way that I wanted to go about things wasn’t necessarily the way that other people wanted to. It was also the way that other people necessarily didn’t want to. Then it was also maybe not the way that the boss wanted to take care of it. I am also… I also thought of myself as a liability because I am… I don’t want to say old school.
“I’m not old school. I’ve just played a lot of contact sports and I’ve gotten into jiu-jitsu and boxing and mixed martial arts. I just know that sometimes when you perform or when you fight, when everything’s on the line, when you give your heart, when you give your soul towards something and you’re in that moment of high stress or high anxiety where you’ve maybe emptied the tank and you’re just physically exhausted.
“In an environment like that, sometimes emotions get the best of you and people will want to throw hands and in the case that I’m unfortunately or fortunately a believer of it, I think if it’s decided that, hey, this is the best way to solve things, and you can shake hands after and move on after. I’m actually a believer of fight age. I am, and that sounds terrible to say, which is why, like, don’t make me an EVP in 2024.
“You know, you can’t do that stuff anymore. I just feel that sometimes that’s how you have to settle things. Sometimes.”
“I don’t mean you have to settle it and then it has to be shown on screen to everyone, or people have to brag online about who won, who lost. No, it’s not for that purpose. It’s for the purpose of just getting that stuff out that you need to get out.
“I’ll admit, there were a number of times, even now, with me, where I thought that that might have been the most appropriate answer. It never came to that. We were able to talk things out, and we became better friends, and there was a level of respect at that point on, between myself and these other parties. Maybe I’ll share these stories later. It’s crazy.
“As much as I believe in cooler heads prevailing, sitting down and talking, sometimes it was just like, hey, I can’t even think straight until I start throwing some hay, you know? Or maybe that I need to be smacked around a little bit, whatever the case might be. I think if it’s a contained scenario, and if it’s not a situation where there’s pulling people’s eyeballs out, low blows, hair pulling, or scratching, you know what I mean?
“If it’s just like, hey, let’s just hang and bang a little bit. I can see it sometimes being conducive for a positive work environment. Again, this is exactly why I have no power, nor should I. So, that… That’s just how I feel, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
You can watch a clip of Omega discussing the backstage incident below.
Kenny Omega has been out of action since being hospitalized with diverticulitis in December 2023.
Kenny Omega talked about Brawl Out on twitch & his main concern was to get Larry the dog out of the situation pic.twitter.com/fUWAU6tkUh
— Dark Puroresu Flowsion (@PuroresuFlow) April 13, 2024
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