Booker T Weighs In On Latest AEW Backstage Incident Involving CM Punk & Jack Perry
The latest reports have suggested that CM Punk and Jack Perry have been suspended pending further investigation following their alleged backstage physical altercation at AEW All In. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has now weighed in with his thoughts on the situation while appearing on his "Hall of Fame" podcast.
The five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion understood that some wrestlers "are not going to fall in line" for Punk. Booker said he wouldn't be getting into a fight at a show but admitted he could end up involved in a fracas if tensions were high, acknowledging that Punk might have been upset about multiple things, including the lack of AEW-arranged private transport after landing at London Heathrow Airport on Saturday. It's been reported that Punk ended up catching a train to his hotel after being abandoned by AEW representatives upon arrival in the UK.
Brad Gilmore, a co-host of the "Hall of Fame" podcast, questioned Booker about how Punk always seems to be at the center of the AEW backstage controversy. "You've gotta understand the pecking order, though, Brad," Booker said. "I'm not jumping on CM Punk's side here or anything like that, but you got to know the pecking order. Tony Khan [AEW's CEO] brought CM Punk in to quarterback this thing, right? When the quarterback come in, what letter do he got on his jersey? ["C," Gilmore responded] Bam. Everybody fall in line, dammit."
'That's just part of the game'
During the AEW All In pre-show, Perry seemingly referenced a disagreement he and Punk had behind the curtain regarding the use of real glass. Moments after a spot involving a limousine windshield in his FTW Championship clash with HOOK, the former "Jungle Boy" looked into the camera and said, "It's real glass. Cry me a river." Booker believes that there should be "rules and regulations" in AEW regarding the use of glass.
Regarding the alleged physical altercation involving Punk and Perry, which reportedly occurred after Perry's FTW Championship match on the pre-show and just before Punk's "Real World Championship" bout with Samoa Joe on the main card, Booker pointed out that there would have been a lot of testosterone "flying around" in a situation like that one.
"It's always been that way," Booker said. "It's always been that way in this business. Two guys are just gonna butt heads. So when it happened, boom, it's a friction. That's just part of the game. Now it's just reported a whole lot more because of social media and whatnot. But if these guys do have a problem, it would make it news like this. You use that. You use it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Hall of Fame" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.