CM Punk SLAMS AEW in now-deleted Instagram tirade – branding Chris Jericho a ‘LIAR’

CM Punk has accused Chris Jericho of being a liar in a now-deleted Instagram story responding to accusations he had refused to lose a match against Jon Moxley last year. 

After making a long-awaited return to the squared circle following an unsuccessful foray into mixed martial arts, Punk returned to wrestling in 2021 by signing with AEW. 

The former WWE star later won the AEW title but suffered a foot injury leading to Jon Moxley capturing an interim title during his absence.

Punk would ultimately be quickly defeated by Moxley on his return to the ring in an episode of Dynamite in August, but wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer claimed that Punk had initially refused to take part in the match citing health issues.

Responding to a question regarding the short build for Punk vs Moxley, Meltzer wrote: ‘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 Tony put his foot down. 

CM Punk called Chris Jericho a ‘liar and a stooge’ in a since-deleted Instagram tirade 

‘There are a lot of nice things I can say about him, and you can absolutely argue his position on Moxley was correct, but you can’t argue he willingly did what he was asked in that scenario.’

Following Meltzer’s comments, Punk would take to his Instagram story to claim that it was instead Moxley who had refused to lose, aiming a barb at Chris Jericho, and appearing to imply that he had been advised to forgo medical clearance prior to his return.

‘SIGH. I wasn’t cleared to come back to wrestle yet. [The] plan was to wrestle at the ppv. I sat and listened to [Moxley’s] Rocky three idea. 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. 

‘He said he wouldn’t lose to me. I’d never experienced someone refusing to lose to me. I just laughed. I asked Tony 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. 

44-year-old also claimed he had been asked to return from injury without medical clearance

The tirade came after Dave Meltzer claimed Punk had refused to lose to Jon Moxley

‘My health is more important. Dave Meltzer is a liar. Jericho is a liar and a stooge. There were plans but plans always change but I’ll never put a company above my health ever again.’

Punk had previously departed WWE amidst controversy in 2014, making a number of damming accusations against the company, including that he had felt forced to return to the ring despite suffering from a number of health issues.

Despite being the organisation’s reigning champion at the time of his hiatus, the 44-year-old has been absent from AEW since engaging in a unscripted backstage brawl with several of his colleagues after he publicly criticised them during a post-match press conference following the All Out pay-per-view in September of last year.