Tony Khan Not Surprised By Boos For CM Punk

To call CM Punk divisive is putting it mildly, with the controversial former AEW World Champion dividing fan opinion online and in arenas since the events of ‘Brawl Out’ in September 2022.

Punk’s recent return on Collision saw the ROH legend showered with love by a hometown Chicago crowd, but Punk has gone on to receive massive amounts of boos from AEW crowds outside of the ‘Windy City’.

At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II on June 25, Punk was again soundly booed when he took on Satoshi Kojima, and when asked on Busted Open Radio if he was surprised by the reception Punk has received, AEW President Tony Khan said the following:

“I wasn’t surprised about that at all given that we were in Canada and given some of the things that had happened in the lead up to the show and in particular since the last time he wrestled, so I think as we go on the road, we are going to get a lot of great responses, but just like a sports team, it depends on where you’re at. Some sports teams are really popular in home cities, and then when they go on the road, it depends, and definitely I thought this was a road game for him. He did great,” said Khan.

Punk leaned into the boos at Forbidden Door and worked a more aggressive almost antagonistic style than usual, with some commenting that Punk’s reception from city to city could be compared to that received by Bret Hart during his anti-America run in 1997. 

H/T: WrestlingNews.co