CM Punk on going off script last week: “I’m trying to sell tickets to the live events”

Speaking to Sports Illustrated ahead of tonight’s AEW World title unification match, CM Punk addressed going off script last week on Dynamite to call out Hangman Adam Page at the beginning of the show.

Punk challenged Page to a match last week and when Page obviously didn’t come out, Punk called it “coward sh*t,” obviously a dig at Page’s use of “cowboy shit.”

But Punk told SI that he’s in AEW to make people want to see what happens next.

“I’m trying to sell tickets to the live events,” he said addressing the question about last week’s interview. “That goes back to me saying Twitter isn’t [the] real world. Twitter is a bunch of people that don’t really care about your opinion. They want to find like-minded opinions that share their worldview. I’m trying to tell stories, sell tickets, and get people to tune in on Dynamite.”

The champ also added that his locker room is always open and anyone who has issues can go talk to him directly. “It’s not macho, stupid bullsh*t. I’m an adult. Come talk with me.”

Earlier in the day, AEW President Tony Khan somewhat tried to downplay the Punk interview from last week, describing Punk’s actions as “unresolved anger” from the World title match at Double or Nothing.

“We haven’t really tied up all those issues. There was clearly some stuff that didn’t get resolved at Double or Nothing,” Khan told the hosts.