Will Ospreay has revealed new details about one of the most controversial incidents in AEW history, the backstage fight between CM Punk and Jack Perry at All In 2023 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show on Tuesday, August 25, Ospreay said he was close to where the confrontation took place but initially believed Punk and Perry were just in character.
At the time, Ospreay was focused on his match against Chris Jericho later that night.
“I was there at the Punk and Jack Perry thing. I was going over the match [with Chris Jericho] in my head, and I was sat there thinking to myself, ‘Oh, flipping hell, I need to get this right, and this right.’
I was making sure that everything was going on in my head, and I heard a commotion. I thought they were cutting a promo. So I got out of dodge then I saw Punk walk pass me, and I was like, ‘Oh no. I know exactly what’s happened.’
It was funny because there were a lot of things where you obviously read sh*t all the time on the internet. And then to see it happen in front of you, it was just kind of like, ‘Oh, that’s lame. Every time I’ve come here, it’s been super enjoyable.'”
The altercation took place shortly after Jack Perry lost the FTW Championship to HOOK during Zero Hour. Roughly ten minutes later, CM Punk opened the main card against Samoa Joe.
The fallout was severe. Following an investigation, AEW terminated Punk’s contract with cause on September 2, 2023, while Perry was suspended indefinitely.
Ospreay was still under contract to NJPW at the time and defeated Chris Jericho at that same All In. He didn’t officially sign with AEW until months later at Full Gear in November 2023.
Now, three years later, Ospreay returns to Wembley Stadium on August 30 to challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship in the All In main event.