Tony Khan Explains Decision To Address The Crowd After Firing CM Punk, Felt He Owed The Crowd

On September 2, AEW announced on social media that they had terminated the contracts of CM Punk due to an incident at AEW All In. 

Hours later, Tony Khan spoke before AEW Collision in Chicago, explaining his decision. He said it was the hardest decision he had to make, that Punk endangered innocent lives, and that he felt his life was threatened. AEW Collision opened with a similar speech by Khan. 

Speaking to Insider, Khan was asked about his decision to speak to the live crowd. 

“Chicago is home to my family. I grew up in Champaign. I’ve been going to the United Center since it was first built when I was 11. My family was at the show, countless friends, everyone I grew up with. It meant a lot to go out and speak to the fans and be able to put on a great show,” he said. 

When asked why did it from the ramp and not in the ring, Khan replied, “[Long pause.] You can’t see everybody’s face from the center of the ring. You have to choose one side of the crowd to face when you’re in the ring. And I wanted to be able to see everybody. I felt like, I’m not a wrestler and I don’t need to be in the ring, and for this moment, I thought I would just sit down and talk to everybody. That’s why I brought out a chair.

And when I was done and walked backstage, the first person I saw was Ricky Steamboat and he said, ‘That was great, you turned the crowd. You turned them around. That’s so hard to do, and you did it.’  I felt I at least owed that much to the wrestlers and the fans, to go out there and talk to everybody.”

Khan has declined to give further comment on Punk when asked by media and outlets. 

Punk did return to screens at CFFC MMA to do commentary. He said during the event that he has time on his hands for two months.