In the midst of a campaign against bullying, and shortly after an allegation broke that Alberto Del Rio bullied a child at a live event, CM Punk caught massive media heat for striking a fan at Monday’s WWE RAW.
While a video reveals that Punk, who went into the crowd late on Monday’s show, was being repeatedly touched and heckled by the live audience, the WWE Superstar’s strikes made waves because they were directed at a fan who appeared innocent.
A fan video, which leaked online early Tuesday, appears to show someone pushing the victim into Punk, at which point Punk connected with a backhand strike. He followed up with one more punch to the downed victim, apparently unaware that said victim did not mean him any harm.
As controversy brewed, a fan–who was spotted on the RAW broadcast by a peer–took credit for being the one who actually hit Punk, noting that the innocent victim of the WWE Champion’s attack could stand to become a “millionaire” (as the result of an implicit lawsuit).
WWE could not allow the controversy to progress unfiltered and issued a public response to TMZ Tuesday, noting, “WWE security was unfortunately not in the appropriate place at the time. Given CM Punk’s persona as a ‘bad guy’ fans were naturally heckling him, but unfortunately a few fans began shoving him and one struck him in the kidney and on the back…WWE regrets that proper security measures were not in place, and CM Punk apologizes for reacting in the heat of the moment.”
Based on that comment, it appears Punk will not be subject to significant punishment from WWE.
