Tony Khan announced via social media and during Saturday night’s telecast of AEW Collision that the company has terminated the contract of CM Punk with cause. This is the result of backstage incident that happened this past Sunday at the company’s All In PPV in London.
Statement from All Elite Wrestling and Tony Khan pic.twitter.com/3MtW6MkGDf
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) September 2, 2023
The very important words here are “with cause” which are buzz words that may indicate that due to “cause” for the termination CM Punk is not due any money left on his contract. Khan outlined that there was an investigation about the incident which occurred backstage between Jack Perry and CM Punk in which reports claim that Punk put Perry in a front face-lock. The two had dispute regarding Perry’s use of outside materials during a match. According to multiple reports there was also a heated conversation between Punk and Tony Khan. Prior to this incident, Punk had a run-in with company Executive Vice Presidents Nick and Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega last September. Punk was not seen with the company after this incident until June of this year which was due in part to injury.
Usually in employment contracts, the buzz word “with cause” means that the finding means that the contractor is not due anything. Punk has had legal troubles in the past which include a lawsuit with a physician with the WWE over an alleged mistreatment of an injury, his former friend Colt Cabana and threatening to sue WWE over his departure from the company.
Payout Perspective:
A lawsuit seems inevitable here if the “with cause” phrase was used as a way to indicate that Punk would not be due any money from his contract. Obviously, Punk will dispute the side of the story from AEW. On the other hand, AEW was clear that it had gone through an investigation process that included taking statements from witnesses, conferring with an internal discipline committee and its outside attorneys. Still, even with these guardrails, Punk probably has a side of the story that does not make him seem like the instigator of the incident.
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