Billy Gunn has revisited the backstage brawl between CM Punk, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks that erupted following AEW All Out 2022, offering his take on the veteran-versus-young-talent dynamic that fueled the confrontation. Speaking in an interview with Kenny McIntosh for the Inside The Ropes YouTube channel, Gunn described the incident in characteristically blunt terms, saying that if “you’re a young little buckaroo and you want to poke the bear, get ready to get bit.”
The comments come years removed from the night in question, when AEW All Out 2022 was headlined by CM Punk defeating Jon Moxley to retain the AEW World Championship, a show that also featured the surprise return of MJF after an extended absence. Despite the in-ring drama, the event became defined by what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, when a physical altercation broke out involving Punk, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. The fallout from that night, since widely referred to within wrestling media as “Brawl Out,” led to significant consequences backstage and reshaped the trajectory of several of AEW’s top stars.
Gunn, a WWE Hall of Famer who has spent time working in a backstage producer and agent capacity within AEW, framed the clash through the lens of generational respect. According to Gunn, some veterans in the industry simply “aren’t going to put up with that shit” when younger talent pushes boundaries, a philosophy he applied directly to how the Punk and Elite situation unfolded. His remarks did not detail the specific triggers of the backstage fight itself, but rather offered a broader characterization of how such confrontations can escalate when newer names test established locker room hierarchies.
The “Brawl Out” incident remains one of the most consequential backstage moments in modern AEW history, given its ties to the build and aftermath surrounding Punk’s reign as AEW World Champion heading out of All Out 2022. Gunn’s comments add a fresh veteran’s voice to a story that has continued to generate discussion across wrestling media years after the show itself took place, even as the promotion has largely moved forward from the on-screen and roster fallout tied to that event.
