MR. TITO: Analyzing the CM Punk and Jack Perry Wembley Security Video – Who was Right or Wrong?

Earlier this week, I wrote a column entitled “AEW is IDIOTIC for Airing Wembley Security Video of CM Punk on Dynamite This Week” and I always stand by what I post. While it may pop AEW near 900,000 for this quarter hour, ultimately, it will be business as usual because AEW has some serious rebuilding to do in terms of wrestling fan confidence to watch or attend their programs again. AEW should have showed this right after it happened, rather than waiting until now to make it part of an angle to promote their Dynasty Pay Per View.

BUT, that said, I’m glad that AEW finally released it… It’s a piece of actual history on what went down that night. With that said, thank you for the delayed release of the CM Punk and Jack Perry confrontation.

It’s rare that you see this kind of backstage altercation captured, as we’d all love to see video footage of what happened after the All Out 2022 Media Scrum between Punk, the Bucks, Omega, the 2 Elite flunkies, and Ace Steele. No footage exists of that incident, but thankfully, we now have footage of what went down during All In 2023 at Wembley Stadium. Now, we can validate or discredit what was previously speculated about by wrestling insiders (biased either way) or what CM Punk said on Ariel Helwani’s podcast from 4/1.

It’s the Zapruder Film of Pro Wrestling, baby! (Zapruder Film = Footage of John F. Kennedy being assassinated)

In short, the video (has NO audio, by the way) shows the backstage area near the Gorilla Position with the production desk to the right which has like 3 computers lined up but a wall is protecting the view. I believe behind that production desk is where Tony Khan is seated. You see Jack Perry walk up near the production desk and he starts talking… Then, CM Punk calmy walks up to him and they chatting face-to-face. They chat for a while, and at one point, CM Punk looks at the production table (likely Tony) as if he’s like “can you believe this guy?”. At some point, CM Punk initiates contact by shoving Perry in the face and that knocks him back and then Punk locks in that front facelock. Some of the referees, production assistants, and talent nearby quickly pull them apart. As Punk is pushed back, he lunges towards the production desk to yell at someone (presumably Tony) and then Punk is pulled away from that and escorted out of the area. Jack Perry is held back far away from Punk.

First, let’s revisit what CM Punk said on Ariel Helwani’s podcast from 4/1.

Much of what Punk said is correct, he was hanging out backstage and then Jack Perry arrives. Punk claims to have pointed out to Tony about his behavior, and maybe that is him looking at the 30 second mark of the video? However, what CM Punk never mentioned is that he shoved Jack Perry in his face before applying that front facelock (seems like Punk grabbed his head or boxed his ears to apply the facelock after that hard shove). Punk definitely struck first, but he did not mention doing that on Ariel Helwani.

CM Punk also swings a punch at Jack Perry at about the 51 second mark, as he’s being pulled apart from front facelocking Jack Perry. “I didn’t punch anybody, I just choked someone a little bit”, but the video clearly sees him swinging at Jack Perry. In my opinion, shoving someone in the face, especially when they aren’t expecting it, is the equivalent of a punch, too. But Punk CLEARLY swung at Jack Perry at the 51 second mark as Punk gets pulled away from the facelock.

HERE is something that CM Punk doesn’t seem to recall on Ariel Helwani’s podcast.

Punk claims that Samoa Joe “told him to stop” and that’s what ended the facelock. Joe is definitely in there and breaking it up, but afterward, CM Punk does indeed lunge at someone behind the production desk and others backstage are clearly pulling CM Punk away from that production desk. Punk said “I turned to Tony and said I quit”. Well, he did turn to Tony, but he clearly lunged at the production table.

In short:

(a) Punk made no mention of the initial shove before the facelock.
(b) Punk claimed to “not punch anybody”, but he clearly swung at Perry as the facelock is being broken up.
(c) He didn’t just turn to Tony Khan, he clearly goes right at him forcefully with 2 guys holding him back.

I can understand Tony Khan’s concern with that aggression of Punk lunging at him, particularly after he got physical with Jack Perry.

THAT SAID, why on earth did Tony Khan not air this damn footage earlier. Ya had him and it would have devalued him as a talent for WWE to later acquire during November 2023. Good lord, they sat on this for over 7 months. Footage shows Punk initiating contact with Perry and then aggressively going after the production table.

But you did NOTHING with that footage, and thus could not capitalize from it. CM Punk’s character has been rehabbed by a strong stint in the WWE and he’s had more than enough time to explain his side of the story to the WWE.

AEW shows this footage more than 7 months later to use for the Young Bucks to hype their match against FTR for a freakin’ Pay Per View named after a KISS disco album.

*face palm*

When the Montreal Screwjob from Survivor Series 1997 happened, did the WWE wait for Bret “The Hitman” Hart to appear on WCW Nitro and obtain sympathy from fans? No, WWE went on the attack and blistered him with Vince McMahon interviews. Remember “Bret Screwed Bret”? By the time December rolls around, Bret Hart is damaged goods because his side of the story was delayed and Vince controlled the narrative to protect him and the WWE.

So yeah, there are discrepancies on what CM Punk said on Ariel Helwani’s podcast, though he has most of the story right, to his credit. Hopefully, there will be a witness arrive that confirms that Jack Perry said “do something about it”, though again, Perry did not physically attack Punk. In fact, if you watch the video, he’s teasing up his hair just as Punk shoves him in the face. Punk did not just turn at Tony, went went right over with 2 guys trying to pull him back to get up in Tony’s face or space.

“Back and to the left”… “Back and to the left”. I always enjoy Bill Hicks’s comedy routine on JFK, among other things.

But this is just too late to be released by AEW… Fumbled the ball on the opportunity make Punk the bad guy. Should have aired the security footage to coincide with when Tony Khan announced the termination of CM Punk. Over and done with, and that would have caused a ton of hesitation by WWE to ever sign him. No, without the footage, WWE gains confidence to sign him and now they are laughing to the bank.

AEW blew 2 chances to make CM Punk look like the bad guy and psychopath while in their company:

(1) All Out 2022 Media Scrum – Had the Bucks/Omega just left Punk alone instead of confronting him, Punk would have been terminated with cause and WWE wouldn’t have signed him after trashing AEW like that during a media event.

(2) All In 2023 fallout – Tony should have showed the security footage to show fans why he terminated Punk instead of waiting 7 months to use it to hype the AEW Dynasty Pay Per View.

And the FACT is that Jack Perry won’t file charges, nor will Tony Khan any threats of violence legally either towards him. Why? Because of the CRAP that would be discovered in this trial and made public about AEW. Tony does not those NDAs following the brawl at All Out 2022 to be torn apart and the real story being revealed about who forcefully barged into CM Punk’s locker room that night. AEW also knows that their negligence backstage led to Jack Perry having issues with Punk and that can be substantiated with multiple witnesses.

Completely fascinating… I didn’t expect to be this curious about watching this 1 minute, 20 second clip over and over again to see if I can see something new. At about the 50 second mark, I believe Tony Khan’s arm reaches over the production table.

Because so much time has passed (7 months+), this doesn’t change much.

Why? Because something was brewing with Jack Perry and Punk’s story about Perry refusing to hear a “no” from AEW backstage officials about the windshield spot has been confirmed multiple times. Hence why CM Punk was asked by Tony Shiavone to get involved.

By the way, did all of you see Tony Shiavone‘s look of disgust immediately after that footage was aired. Did you see that, folks? He was pissed off…

So much time has elapsed to let CM Punk be a model citizen in WWE, while reports of Perry being attacked and Tony being lunged at turned out to be true. BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER because so much time has passed and WWE is quite excited about their CM Punk hiring. And I guarantee CM Punk would NEVER lunge at Triple H, as my money would be on the Game to overcome him (even with the bad heart). HHH is a tough dude, hence why he can follow Vince McMahon’s footsteps in ruling the WWE and keeping the wrestlers aligned (including Punk).

But hey, we’ll be talking about this Wembley security footage for YEARS and I’m 100% for it. Doesn’t change my opinion over what happened with Punk because enough goodwill on his behalf in WWE has occurred and AEW lacks transparency on many things backstage.

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