Former AEW Wrestler Ryan Nemeth Reveals Timeline Of Multiple Complaints Of Harassment Against CM Punk

AEW News, Featured

— Former AEW wrestler Ryan Nemeth sent a complaint to executives in September, claiming that he suffered harassment, abuse and threats during his time with the company, specifically identifying CM Punk as one of the perpetrators. Nemeth claims that during his time in AEW, none of his concerns and complaints were addressed and that AEW in fact, did nothing about it.

— The document, obtained by fightfulselect.com, indicates a timeline of events submitted by Nemeth where he has supporting evidence of his complaints in the form of emails, texts and phone calls. Nemeth indicated in the complaint that not only did AEW not respond accordingly to the incidents he brought to their attention, but officials instead ordered him to “verbally antagonize” Punk on TV. The timeline is summarized below:

On April 16, 2023, Nemeth claimed he contacted AEW’s Head of Legal (at the time) Megha Parekh with concerns that Punk was targeting him which ended up in a direct threat on June 21, 2023 in an AEW locker room believed to be because Nemeth referenced Punk as “literally the softest man alive” in a tweet in character. Nemeth stated that Parekh, Tony Schiavone and the Young Bucks all showed him “empathy” and was assured that his relationship with AEW wouldn’t be affected. However, subsequent to that, he wasn’t booked for two months during which time Jon Moxley contacted him and commented that the situation “didn’t sit right with him.”
On July 17, 2023, Nemeth once again reached out to Parekh about how AEW hadn’t done anything about his previous complaint and how he felt that he had been “silently fired” due to the complaint or at the very least punished. Parekh assured him that his speaking up wouldn’t affect his status with AEW.
On August 12, 2023, Nemeth says he arrived in Greensboro, NC for a Collision show and was ordered to return home. The reason was initially told to Nemeth by Pat Buck that it was due to “travel confusion”, however, he later revealed that it was Punk who didn’t want him there at the show.
Nemeth said he then contacted Parekh again, pleading for some sort of action to be taken. He was flown to Dynamite on august 16 and told to “verbally antagonize” Punk in a promo in front of the live audience to be taped and aired later. That same day he had a meeting with AEW’s HR and Legal departments but left feeling as if still no appropriate action was taken.
By this time, Parekh had left her role on AEW’s legal team and so Nemeth was left to work with Chris Peck and Margaret Stalvey. When the Punk incident with Jack Perry took place at AEW All Out 2023, Nemeth was one of the individuals who was contacted to speak to a third party as part of the investigation. Nemeth claims he brought up the fact that he had already spoken up about Punk’s pattern of behavior for months but felt that he was being made the “fall guy” for the behavior.
Nemeth last wrestled for AEW on November 18, just says before Punk returned to WWE, and despite being told that his deal wouldn’t be left to expire because he was speaking up. However, Nemeth says that his contract expired in March 2024 despite numerous creative pitches and he feels that AEW and Tony Khan hold him responsible for having to fire Punk and facilitating his return to WWE.
Following his contract expiration, Chris Peck reached out to work out a settlement payout that was worth approximately three year’ worth of his salary in exchange for Nemeth signing an NDA. Nemeth claims he was appreciative of that offer and was considering it before being told that it was pulled off the table. Nemeth further claimed that Peck threatened him first by saying that he would be put in an “antagonistic position to Megha” if the situation ever went to arbitration and then later by threatening to sue him about his document outlining the timelines.

— In the aftermath, Nemeth says that he’s consulted with mental health professionals in order to get over the situation and is seeking to be a catalyst for policy changes within AEW as well as the financial offer that was originally proposed to him. He commended the AEW roster while not necessarily blaming Punk for the issues, saying if not for him, it would have likely been someone else. He re-iterated that his concerns fell on “deaf ears” to Peck and AEW officials despite his constant attempts.

— Fightfulselect.com added that Nemeth has spoken to AEW President Tony Khan a few months ago and Khan was considering the idea of having Nemeth return to AEW, however, Nemeth himself was not interested in returning. AEW has not commented on any part of this story.