Tony Khan offered new insight into the circumstances surrounding CM Punk’s exit during a conversation with Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show. Khan focused on the backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry at All In in September 2023, a confrontation captured on security cameras and later shown on AEW Dynamite shortly after Punk appeared on Helwani’s program.

Khan made it clear that he did not fully agree with the way the incident had been publicly framed. He felt that airing the footage was the right call for AEW’s presentation and reflected the reality of what the cameras had recorded.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with the description of how it all happened,” Khan said while acknowledging Helwani’s reporting. Looking back on the choice to broadcast the material, he added that the decision aligned with AEW’s direction. “I think the tape spoke for itself, and I think that I didn’t agree with how it happened, and obviously it was a major part of why things were no longer able to continue with us, even though I would have liked to have been able to… It was clear when we started doing Collision, I wanted to reconcile and find a way to still do those things. And I guess that wasn’t possible. I wanted to find a way for everybody to be able to work together, and that didn’t work, and that’s okay. It seems like everybody’s happier and doing better right now. I know in AEW right now, everybody’s really happy, and it feels like this is the best the locker room’s been since the Jacksonville lockdown days.”

Punk’s AEW tenure, which began with a landmark debut in 2021, ended in 2023 after the fallout from the incident. Two months later, he resurfaced in WWE with a surprise comeback at Survivor Series WarGames, adding another major chapter to his career following his time as a two time AEW World Champion and central figure in several major storylines.