Tony Khan accused of covering up for CM Punk wanting AEW star fired - Reports

Tony Khan has been accused of covering up for CM Punk against claims of the latter wanting AEW star Colt Cabana fired from the promotion in a surprising new report.

The Second City Saint was released from the Jacksonville-based promotion by Tony Khan after his backstage fracas with Jack Perry at All In 2023. This was not the first altercation involving Punk that troubled the company, however, as the former World Champion had also found himself embroiled in a scuffle with The Elite after his infamous rant during the All Out 2022 media scrum.

During the scrum, CM Punk had expressed his frustration with rumors that allegedly claimed the Chicago native had tried to have his former friend Colt Cabana fired from the company. Punk has strictly denied those allegations, although a new update from an anonymous AEW source may complicate matters once again.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has shared comments made by an unidentified individual after The Best in the World's explosive interview on The MMA Hour and prior to AEW airing the Wembley footage on Dynamite earlier this month. The source claimed that Punk did indeed try to have Cabana terminated from the promotion over personal issues.

The anonymous individual also asserted that Tony Khan lied to defend Punk from accusations of wanting Cabana fired and pointed out that the All Elite head honcho covering for the latter could result in others feeling unable to defend themselves.

“Tony coming right out and saying ‘Phil never asked for Colt to be fired,’ and continuing to cover for him about that story, even now, makes saying anything unsafe for anyone. It definitely did happen. You can see how likely it is to have happened by looking at his behavior in effectively banning people from Collision.”

Regarding the WWE Raw Superstar's scathing comments about AEW during his interview with Ariel Helwani, the source said:

“Some [of the claims were] true, some distorted, and some outright lies, will continue to keep the messy situation alive, and I think we all want to move past it.” [H/T EWrestlingNews]

The unidentified source also revealed that Punk had made several untruthful claims during an ESPN interview prior to his 2023 return to All Elite Wrestling, stating that the promotion had several statements removed from the interview prior to its publication.

The source further claimed that the omitted statements may have proven to several parties that Punk's claim that he never wanted Cabana gone from AEW was false. The latter is still signed with AEW and ROH as a talent and as a coach.

Jack Perry and The Elite attacked Tony Khan on AEW Dynamite

Jack Perry made his return to AEW for the first time since All In 2023 by helping The Young Bucks win the Tag Team Titles at Dynasty 2024. On the following episode of Dynamite, he met with Tony Khan in the ring, asking to be reinstated to the company.

Although Khan and Perry seemed to have buried the hatchet, The Scapegoat punched his boss in a shocking move. Afterward, The Young Bucks joined Perry in the ring and delivered a TK Driver to the All Elite president.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for The Elite after their shocking assault on Khan.

Thoughts on the latest update regarding CM Punk and All Elite Wrestling? Sound off below!