AEW's Jon Moxley on CM Punk's IG Post: 'I'm Not Going to F--king Sink to That Level'

AEW star Jon Moxley fired back at CM Punk on Tuesday in the wake of Punk accusing Moxley of not wanting to lose to him in an Instagram post.

Appearing on The Sessions with his wife and AEW interviewer, Renée Paquette, Moxley said the following when asked if he wanted to respond to Punk's comments (h/t Thomas Lowson of SEScoops):

"No, because nothing has unfolded. It's f--king annoying. Just because somebody said some stupid s--t on social media, that's not news. But it is, and it ends up being a thing. I don't want to get dragged into this dumb s--t. I could f--king unload on a lot of f--king people right now. And when I start getting dragged into this s--t it tempts me to do that, but I'm not going to f--king sink to that level."

Moxley also revealed that he wasn't under contract during the time Punk referenced and said he was "bending over backwards" during negotiations for the pair of matches he had with Punk in August and September.

In a post on the Wrestling Observer message board last week (h/t WrestlingInc's Ross Berman), Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported Punk didn't want to put Moxley over in their Aug. 24 match on Dynamite, writing:

"Do you know why they didn't advertise Punk vs. Moxley longer and why it had a short build? 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. ... 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."

That post prompted Punk to make a post of his own on Instagram. Punk's response, which was deleted just minutes after it was posted, read as follows:

"SIGH. I wasn't cleared to wrestle yet. Then the plan was to wrestle at the PPV. I sat and listened to Moxley's Rocky III idea. I'd explained how I'd never seen a Rocky movie. ... He said he wouldn't lose to me.

"I'd never experienced someone refusing to lose to me. I just laughed. ... They kept saying it could just be a squash so I didn't need to be cleared. I scoffed at that. My health is more important. Dave Meltzer is a liar. [Chris] 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 defeated "Hangman" Adam Page for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing in May 2022, but he suffered a foot injury just a few days later on Dynamite that kept him out for nearly three months.

While Punk was out, an interim AEW world champion was crowned, and Moxley earned that distinction by beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door.

Punk came back to face Moxley and determine the true AEW world champion, and Mox defeated Punk in what amounted to a squash match on Aug. 24, 2022, episode of Dynamite.

Within the storyline, it was suggested that Punk had come back too soon from his injury, which was why he lost decisively. Over the next week, Punk was emboldened to bounce back and beat Moxley at All Out on Sept. 4, 2022.

As Punk mentioned, the story had undertones to Rocky III, in which Rocky Balboa was defeated soundly by Clubber Lang before coming back to beat him in the rematch.

The win over Moxley at All Out was Punk's last AEW match to date, as Punk reportedly tore his triceps during the match and then got into a backstage confrontation with The Elite, resulting in him being stripped of the title.

Punk's AEW future is now very much in question, whereas Moxley remains one of the company's top stars and most important figures.

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