We recently reported that in a recent podcast Konnan discussed that during his own negotiations with AEW he was told that in order for CM Punk to step back into the ring for Tony Khan’s promotion he wanted an ‘astronomical’ amount of money.
AEW have another special episode of Dynamite scheduled for this week called Fight of the Fallen. Alex McCarthy from talkSPORT had the chance to speak to Cody regarding negotiations with former WWE Champion CM Punk and the demands that he had.
When discussing negotiations between AEW and Cm Punk, Cody had the following to say:
“I like Konnan a lot. He’s kind of my AAA buddy. He’s a really smart, smart guy. I wish I could spend a little more time with Konnan – I know I’m waxing poetic on Konnan here but I think he’s a really great guy.
As far as the CM Punk negotiations go, everyone heard the famous ‘he got a text from us’. Yeah, of course there were negotiations and he did ask for a great amount of money and Punk is worth a great deal of money.”
Cody then added details on AEW’s policy on recruitment and hinted that the reason Punk did not join AEW might not have been purely down to money. Here is what he added:
“But you also have to – and this isn’t speaking to Punk specifically, this is speaking to recruitment and what we’ve learned in wrestling in general – a lot of people think ‘these wrestlers are running this wrestling company’.
“These wrestlers are doing everything they can to run the creative, the brand and the marketing and things, but there are some very smart and fiscally conservative people who surround us and flank us because this isn’t my money. At all.
“And I don’t want a situation that happened with WCW or Jim Crockett promotions where we think we’re flying so high that we can do anything. No – this is a business. And we have to turn a profit.
“The fact we were able to turn a profit as a company within only two years of being alive, very few other companies within wrestling – it’s real limited, you can count on one hand who’s been able to do that versus who has bled money – but in that situation the negotiations, I don’t think they ever got too serious.
“Doesn’t mean they won’t one day, but they never got entirely too serious. I think there is a good relationship there. I think I have a good relationship with Phil, I believe Tony does too and I’m not sure really when it comes to him, it’s not so much about the money. It’s about are you interested in doing this?
“Because the price tag becomes a lot more justifiable if you’re genuinely interested in what we’re doing at the high speed we’re doing it. And again, that’s not even specific to him, just in general, if the passion is not there, the money is not there.”
The Coronavirus has had a massive impact on businesses across the globe. WWE decided to release several of their in-ring talent in a bid to ensure their highest ever profit, AEW on the other hand have added to their roster. From WWE they have picked up talents such as Brodie Lee, Matt Hardy and FTR. They have also signed Brian cage from impact who will face Jon Moxley for the AEW Championship tomorrow.
Adding CM Punk to All Elite Wrestling would be the biggest move they could possibly make however the finances and other factors would have to be right for both parties for it to work out.
