Bryan Danielson Revealed To Be Head Of AEW Disciplinary Committee That Fired CM Punk

When CM Punk was fired by All Elite Wrestling for his conduct backstage at All In in August, it was revealed that a disciplinary committee convened to decide Punk’s fate. It has now been revealed that Bryan Danielson headed up said committee.

Per a report from Fightful Select, Danielson was part of a three-person panel with AEW General Counsel Chris Peck - who has assumed many of Megha Parek’s responsibilities in the organisation - as well as an outside legal attorney.

Danielson has become an important figure backstage in AEW and has been entrusted with issuing fines to talent when applicable amongst other duties, but his inclusion in the panel was described by a source within AEW as being due to Danielson having an “appropriate moral compass who exemplifies objectivity”. It was also revealed that Danielson was in essence the face of said committee.

Whilst no details of the decision making process have been revealed, it is widely believed that the ultimate decision to terminate Punk’s contract was handled by AEW President Tony Khan. 

In an address to the AEW locker room at the time, Danielson is said to have spoken of Punk’s termination, noting how it was an extremely difficult decision. In this address, Danielson is said to have spoken of the positives of Punk’s time in AEW and his assets to the company, as well as the close friendship Punk and Danielson have enjoyed for many years since their time in Ring of Honor. Ultimately Danielson said that a decision had to be made.

A couple of days after Punk’s return to WWE at Survivor Series on November 25, Danielson took to Twitter/X to Tweet the following:

“My dad always told me, 'The right thing is often the hardest thing to do. It won’t always make the most money. It won’t always be the most popular. But it’s still the right thing,'" whilst it was initially speculated that this could be about Punk, Fightful’s report has confirmed that it was, with Danielson saying this line during his meeting with talent about Punk’s dismissal.

Ibou of WrestlePurists has noted Punk is not mad at Danielson for his AEW firing and Punk himself expected to be fired following All In.