issue with certain members of the media as he addressed the real-life rumor that he had attempted to get his former friend Colt Cabana fired from AEW, which he adamantly denied. His denial of the rumor was backed up by AEW president Tony Khan, who had previously denied the rumor following ROH's 2022 Death Before Dishonor event. Punk cited "irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs" (AEW's EVPs are Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, who wrestle as The Elite) and "Hangman" Adam Page as the reason why the rumor was leaked in the weeks leading up to All Out. He also addressed an incident where Page went off-script in a face-to-face promo leading up to their match at Double or Nothing in May, with Punk saying, "What did I ever do in this world to deserve an empty-headed fucking dumb fuck like 'Hangman' Adam Page to go out on national television and fucking go into business for himself? For what? What did I do?" Multiple publications reported that Punk's comments subsequently caused a legitimate fight between Punk, his friend Ace Steel, Omega, and the Young Bucks backstage. The following episode of Dynamite on September 7, Khan announced that the AEW World Championship had been vacated, leading to a tournament that ended with Moxley reclaiming the championship. The AEW World Trios Championship, won by The Elite at All Out, was simultaneously announced as being vacated. As of the same show, images of Punk, Omega and The Young Bucks no longer appeared in the opening video of AEW programming. The four would not appear on any AEW shows, until The Elite's return at Full Gear on November 19, more than two months later. On September 8, Dave Meltzer reported that Punk tore a muscle in his arm during his match at All Out and would require major surgery; it is expected the injury will keep him out of the ring for up to 8 months, though his future with AEW regardless of the injury was unclear. Professional wrestling persona Punk adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as a major attribute of his professional wrestling character. The character utilizes different elements of Punk's personality and beliefs of the straight edge movement dependent on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, Punk's character tends to be that of Punk's normal personality, largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake