Top AEW star expresses gratitude to WWE's CM Punk: "I owe ya a lot"

AEW and CM Punk shocked the wrestling world in August 2021 when the controversial star made his long-awaited return to the industry. However, he was released from his contract last year. Despite his departure, Punk has remained friends with many of his All Elite colleagues. One top star just publicly thanked the WWE RAW Superstar.

The Voice of the Voiceless had already left WWE when Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler debuted in NXT as The Revival in 2014. FTR had been with AEW for almost fifteen months since Punk made his debut. The real-life friends eventually began appearing on-screen together and were billed as CMFTR. The veteran grapplers have maintained their real friendship and confirmed this during media interviews and social media.

The Second City Saint celebrated his 46th birthday on Saturday. Harwood took to his Instagram Stories to wish Punk a happy birthday, including a backstage photo of CMFTR and a friendly gesture from the former AEW World Champion.

"Happy Birthday to my friend. I owe ya a lot. @cmpunk," Dax Harwood wrote with the photos below.

Screenshot of Dax Harwood's post to Instagram stories (Photo credit: Dax Harwood on Instagram)

The first-ever CMFTR match was a Dynamite win over Max Caster and the Gunn Club in June 2022. One year later, they defeated Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Samoa Joe on the Collision premiere.

The second Collision saw CMFTR and Ricky Starks lose to White, Robinson, and The Gunns. Punk and FTR teamed for the final time on the ninth episode of Saturday night show, coming up short against then-Trios Champions, the House of Black.

CM Punk names AEW star to bar fight list

CM Punk and Samoa Joe had one of the most legendary feuds in wrestling history. The ROH rivalry was recently re-visited when Punk and Joe were both signed to Tony Khan's AEW and ROH promotions.

Punk recently appeared on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast and was asked to name four wrestlers he'd want as backup if he ever found himself in a hypothetical bar fight against a crowd of patrons. He named Bron Breakker, Shayna Baszler, and Braun Strowman, then jokingly chose Joe as his fourth fighter.

"I don't know about the statute of limitations, but there have been some situations in the early 2000s where maybe somebody who looked a lot like me and somebody who looked a lot like Samoa Joe were in similar situations," CM Punk said.

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe took place for the first time since 2005 on AEW Collision in July 2023 as part of The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. The Chicago native defeated Samoan Submission Machine that night, and seven weeks later, he retained the Real World Championship over Joe at All In 2023.