Tony Khan credits CM Punk as big part of ‘important time’ in AEW

While AEW head Tony Khan has yet to address CM Punk’s new home in WWE with anything more than a “no comment,” he did credit the former two-time AEW World Champion’s successful moments in a new interview Thursday.

Speaking with the New York Post, Khan was asked about Punk’s positive contributions to his company. Instead of brushing it off due to it being a “legal issue” like he did in an interview earlier this week, Khan gave a brief and positive answer about his former employee:

“The First Dance was an incredible moment in wrestling and was part of a very important time in AEW. All Out 2021, along with All In, are our biggest pay-per-views of all time and we’ve had a lot of great success as a company as a team and in some of the most exciting times, CM Punk has been a big part of that team.”

Punk was fired by AEW in September for cause following an investigation after August’s All In when he got into a backstage skirmish with Jack Perry and also reportedly lunged after Khan — all moments before he opened the pay-per-view against Samoa Joe.

The 45-year-old made his surprise return to WWE at this past Saturday’s Survivor Series in his first appearance in the promotion in nearly a decade.