Samoa Joe praised for his leadership as yet another account of Punk/Perry fight emerges

Before we dive into the latest accounts of the CM Punk/Jack Perry “incident” backstage at All In last Sunday, here’s something positive to come out of the latest AEW drama to dominate headlines on the wrestle web.

It comes from the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter (also the source of the new version of what happened when Punk & Perry met up in gorilla position after fka Jungle Boy took an on-air shot at Punk during his All In pre-show match with HOOK), but it’s in line with something PWInsider mentioned in the hours after the “Brawl In” news broke: When word spread about the altercation among the AEW roster at Wembley Stadium, it motivated talent to put on great matches.

Additional details from Dave Meltzer’s sources are that many wrestlers think both Punk and Perry are at fault for what happened, and that at least one person was getting credit for their leadership in the moment:

“It kind of brought everyone together and Samoa Joe was a real leader,” was one comment made.

The actions which earned Joe praise were mentioned in a description of what happened from someone who Meltzer describes as a ”neutral source who is not a wrestler” that witnessed the scene between Punk & Perry:

... his version was that right after Perry came to the back, Punk went nose-to-nose with him aggressively and asked him if he had a problem. That person said Perry said he was just looking to get heat as a heel. Punk shoved him hard, Perry got in his face and in that version Punk sucker punched him and went for a choke. People immediately broke it up and [AEW owner Tony] Khan was yelling at Punk to let him go.

That person said that once they were separated, Punk lunged in Khan’s direction but a number of people got in his way while Punk was yelling ‘I Quit.’ Monitors were knocked down during all this. Joe was very upset and went to calm Punk down.

We’ve heard multiple times that this latest blow-up almost forced AEW to change their plans for how All In would open, and it seems Joe deserves credit for ensuring he & Punk started the show.

There really hasn’t been a version of what happened that makes it seem like Punk wasn’t the physical aggressor, but this “sucker punch” version is probably the worst we’ve heard. That it’s coming from Meltzer will cause many to discount it out of hand, and perhaps we (or at least AEW’s investigators) will gain more clarity from the video footage of the fight which supposedly exists.

As it stands now, reports agree that Punk and Perry are both suspended pending the results of AEW’s investigation. Tony Khan hasn’t promised to have a decision before All Out this Sunday, and an outlet believed to be close to Punk’s camp has said he’s “unlikely” to work this weekend’s shows in Chicago.