CM Punk Hits Back Against Chris Jericho, Dave Meltzer About Long-Standing Rumors

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has mostly successfully bounced back from the disaster that was the altercation following the All Out pay-per-view last September 22 in recent months, but its ghost has decided to come back for one more go-around.

Renowned pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer the Wrestling Observer made a post on his message boards addressing the short build-up to CM Punk's defense of the AEW Championship to Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose in WWE) on the August 24, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite.

"Do you know why they didn't advertise [CM] Punk vs. [Jon] Moxley longer and why it had a short build? Because Punk agreed to it, then AEW got a legal letter saying he wasn't down with it and wasn't doing it and they didn't know if he'd come until [AEW CEO] Tony [Khan] put his foot down," Meltzer wrote according to a transcript acquired.

Punk then took to his Instagram stories to respond to the latest allegations levied against him by Meltzer as captured and posted on Twitter.

"I wasn't cleared to come back to wrestle yet. Then [the] plan was to wrestle at the PPV. I sat and listened to Moxley's Rocky three ideas. I explained how I'd never seen a Rocky movie. And I thought the idea sucked but if the boss wanted to do it, whatever," Punk wrote.

"I asked Tony [Khan] if this was what he wanted. He said yes. He's the boss so I said okay, but I'd need to be cleared first. They kept saying it could just be a squash so I didn't [need] to be cleared. I scoffed at that. My health is more important. Dave Meltzer is a liar."

Film buffs would remember that the third installment of the widely popular Rocky series featured the titular character Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone) being soundly beaten by James "Clubber" Lang (played by Mr. T) in their first fight before pulling off a stunning win in the rematch.

This is what Punk may have been referring to in that part of his statement: that Moxley will squash Punk in the ring like Lang did to Balboa before Punk makes a triumphant return after some time away from the squared-circle.

In reality, that is exactly what had happened as Punk needed to be helped backstage due to a foot injury while Moxley celebrated himself becoming the undisputed AEW Champion with the rematch set for the All Out pay-per-view–just 11 days in between.

Punk was not done with his tirade however as he turned his attention to pro wrestling star Chris Jericho.

"[Chris] Jericho is a liar and a stooge. There were plans, but plans always change. But I'll never put a company above my health over again," Punk wrote to close it all out.

Jericho had been accused of doling out information to dirt sheets about what has been happening behind closed doors, particularly regarding the backstage altercation involving Punk and AEW executive vice presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.

Punk is not expected to make his return to AEW anytime soon as he is dealing with an injury to his arm, but this latest development could be the mark where fans say Punk has completely given up on AEW.