CM Punk explains what sparked backstage fight with Jack Perry that got him sacked by AEW as footage emerges

CM Punk has recently addressed his controversial exit from AEW following a well-documented backstage fight with Jack "Jungle Boy" Perry at Wembley Stadium.

AEW promoter Tony Khan decided to terminate the contract of CM Punk, real name Phillip Brooks, with immediate effect in September following a "backstage incident" at All In - London.

Punk has since stayed relatively quiet on the subject until earlier this month, when he discussed what happened during a sit-down interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

In the build-up to the altercation, Perry is said to have wanted to use real glass in a spot [choreographed sequence] – something Punk disagreed with because of the dangers involved.

Perry then decided to use it anyway, and was heard saying "cry me a river" after pointing out that he used real glass when dropping HOOK onto the car windshield.

Later in the night, both men were involved in a physical altercation, as seen below.

Watch with audio from Punk. The ONLY thing AEW achieved last night by airing this footage was proving that CM Punk tells the truth. He’s built a career from it. Oh, they may have popped a rating too, so congrats to Punk & WWE on that! AEW’s lowest point pic.twitter.com/eVpXrruNfx

— Gorilla Position (@WWEGP) April 11, 2024

Speaking to Helwani on the show, Punk explained: "Jack came back from his match. I was the next match. I’m sitting there. I got people with me. I’m not going to say who they are because I got a lot of friends who work there, and I wish them all well, and I don’t want them to be punished because they’re friends with me.

"So I walk up to them and I’m just like, ‘Jack, why do you insist on doing this dumb Internet shit on TV?’ And he’s just like, ‘Well, if you got a problem about it, do something about it.’

"And I was just like, ‘Man, come on, man. I’ll fucking kill you. What are we doing?’ I thought I was doing a responsible thing. I didn’t punch anybody. I just choked somebody a little bit.

"Samoa Joe was there, told me to stop, and then I quit. I turned to Tony and I said, ‘This place is a fucking joke, man. You’re a clown. I quit.’ I went to my room, and then Joe and Jerry Lynn came and got me, and they’re ‘Let’s just go out there and kill it.’

"I was just too fired up, and I’m fired up now, and I’m probably going to regret talking about all this shit, but that’s what happened."

Following his dismissal from AEW, Punk would make a triumphant return to WWE at Survivor Series after the company's chief content officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque convinced him to rejoin.