CM Punk had negotiations with AEW where he asked for a huge amount of money: Cody Rhodes

A couple of weeks ago, former WWE superstar Konnan stated on his podcast that CM Punk never joined AEW because the promotion was not able to pay him the “huge amount he asked” for. Recently, top AEW official and current AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes confirmed Konnan’s statements and revealed that there were indeed negotiations between AEW and CM Punk. However, Cody Rhodes added that the negotiations were never serious. “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 Rhodes said to TalkSport.

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Cody Rhodes then said that he and AEW President Tony Khan have a great relationship with CM Punk and at the end of the day “it’s not so much about the money”. He claimed that CM Punk is ‘worth a great deal of money’ and if he works and delivers phenomenal performances, ‘the price tag becomes justifiable’. Cody Rhodes asserted that it’s all about whether CM Punk is interested in working or not. “And again, that’s not even specific to him, just in general, if the passion is not there, the money is not there,” he added.

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CM Punk’s career after leaving WWE in 2014

CM Punk left WWE after having creative problems with Vince McMahon and team. After that, he started learning Mixed Martial Arts and later signed a deal with UFC. His debut fight came against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 where he lost via a rear-naked choke in the first round. In his second professional fight, CM Punk faced Mike Jackson at UFC 225. CM Punk put on an average performance but lost the bout via unanimous decision. After the bout, UFC president Dana White said that CM Punk would "probably not" fight in the UFC again.

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After saying goodbye to MMA, the former WWE Champion joined WWE Backstage as a special contributor and analyst. At WWE Backstage, CM Punk and other analysts would talk about WWE programs and ongoing storylines. At first, the show was a major hit, but as time went on, it took major hits in the rating charts. Eventually, on June 2020, FOX ended up cancelling WWE Backstage.

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Image Source: WWE.com, AEW.com