Ex-WWE Writer Claims AEW Had Backstage Cliques Amid CM Punk Controversy

A former WWE writer says the AEW locker room had multiple factions backstage during the CM Punk Brawl Out incident.

During his recent appearance on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, former WWE writer Robert Karpeles recalled how Vince McMahon ran things almost single-handedly, while the company now has many backstage management figures.

As he was making his point, he looked back at CM Punk’s post-All Out 2022 media scrum comments and the backstage brawl that followed. He believed the AEW locker room was divided into various cliques, saying the situation made him nervous about the company’s direction.

Robert Karpeles said when a locker room is divided like that, nobody will work towards the same goal. That’s why he believes a wrestling company needs people like Vince McMahon who won’t be afraid to make decisive choices.

“He was very much a one-man shop, and you kind of need that. That was another thing where I was getting a little nervous about AEW for a little while. Right around the time that the wheels fell off with all the CM Punk things, with the press conference that went south and the brawl and the reactions. It didn’t feel decisive, and AEW felt very cliquey. There were different camps of people. You were either in Cody’s group, or you were part of Kenny and the Young Bucks, or you were with Jericho and his crew, or you were everybody else.

“And when you have those factions, those groups within a locker room, everyone’s not working towards the same goal. Whether it’s through inspired leadership or fear, you need someone front and center who’s not going to be afraid to make decisive choices. And everybody knows, good, bad, or indifferent, it’s this person’s call,” he said about AEW.