"It was a high-stress situation" - Former WWE champion comments on events leading up to CM Punk's AEW firing

CM Punk's AEW firing and subsequent return to WWE has been one of the biggest stories in 2023. Recently, Samoa Joe, who was the final opponent of Punk in All Elite Wrestling, chimed in on the events leading up to the Second City Saint's exit from the company.

Punk's AEW run was filled with controversies. In 2022, he had the infamous Brawl Out incident with The Elite after All Out pay-per-view, leading to him and the rest of the parties being suspended. The Straight Edge Star returned in June 2023, and in the following month at All In pay-per-view in Wembley Stadium, he and Jungle Boy got into an altercation backstage immediately after the latter's match in the pre-show. The Voice of the Voiceless faced Samoa Joe to kick off the event.

The Chicago native was eventually fired by Tony Khan in September 2023 and returned to WWE in November at Survivor Series: WarGames in his hometown. During a recent interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Samoa Joe opened up about the incident:

"There was a little bit of an incident. We got it broken up. We went out there and wrestled, man. That's the gist of it....Not to me [the event being a big deal]. I've seen fights break out. Stuff happens. But again, that's me. I've been in these situations, I've seen that. I'll find it funny when people are like, 'Oh, Joe's cool with it.' I mean, nah man, it was a high-stress situation. Sure. But I mean, it's one I've seen happen many times."

The Samoan Submission Machine continued:

"We get it squashed out. We had a show to do. We had [81,035] fans waiting out there. And that was my focus, because that's what it was about at that moment. We're about to go out and have the best night of our lives." [H/T: Fightful]

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Samoa Joe was CM Punk's last AEW opponent before WWE return

Samoa Joe and CM Punk have a long history that dates back to their instant classics in Ring of Honor.

When the six-time WWE Champion returned to wrestling at AEW Rampage in 2021, a longtime rematch against Samoa Joe was one of the biggest dream matches on wrestling fans' wishlists.

The match finally happened on an episode of Collision in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Semi-Final, where the former Money in the Bank winner came out on top. Their rematch at All In was far better and ultimately became CM Punk's last-ever match in All Elite Wrestling.