AEW World Champion MJF had some strong words both criticizing and praising WWE Champion CM Punk when discussing his former rival. The two delivered a legendary feud in AEW during Punk’s time in the promotion. Unfortunately, Punk ran into issues with many people backstage over various controversial actions to come after this feud. Punk’s “problem child” behavior led to multiple backstage fights and a firing that landed him back in WWE.
MJF said the following about Punk when interviewed by popular podcaster Chris Van Vliet:
“The things that he said in my company do go against the things that he’s saying now. Some people might say that’s hypocritical. That’s not my place.”
MJF covered his tracks by saying it’s not his place to comment on if Punk’s actions are hypocritical. However, he did go out of his way to reference Punk’s previous comments insulting WWE and holding a moral stance in opposition to the massive promotion.
Another bold comment from the interview featured MJF saying he “wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire” to describe their relationship. However, MJF is known for committing to his villain character work and likely dropped this line to play that up on a more personal level.
What Sparked CM Punk Hypocrite Claims
The career of CM Punk is unlike any other talent in wrestling history for both good and bad reasons. Punk left WWE in 2014 and made it clear he held no love for the promotion for many years. The hostility he held for WWE is partially why AEW lucked into such a landmark moment of hosting Punk’s return to wrestling.
Punk loved taking pot shots at WWE during his time in AEW with more creative freedom on microphone. The biggest “hypocritical” moment of Punk features him criticizing WWE talents who appeared on controversial Saudi Arabia shows. Questionable ethics of the financially lucrative shows were called out by Punk, but he’s since started appearing on them for WWE with the same financial bonus coming his way.
Another comment from an AEW promo featured Punk mocking WWE talents who appear in the first night’s main event of WrestleMania. Fate would see Punk having that same role last year and calling out those who try to diminish the accomplishment like he did.
MJF Admitted He Learned From Punk
The same interview did see MJF having some positive words for Punk when discussing their previous matches together. MJF admitted that he learned the difference between “good” and “great” from having incredible promo battles and matches with a star of Punk’s level.
Few wrestlers are as deep into character as MJF, making fans question what is legitimately honest and what is part of his heel work. The interview showed a lot more honest comments from MJF when asked about various AEW topics to make it feel authentic.
MJF and other AEW talents likely hold animosity to Punk for his toxic behavior backstage and trying to bury the company in interviews to warrant the hypocritical comment. The current AEW World Champion taking shots at the current WWE Champion is fascinating, but MJF did add that there is a respect level there for Punk’s overall talent.
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