AEW's Official History Highlights Rhodes and Punk, Skims Controversy

AEW’s officially sanctioned history, slated for release in early November, includes substantial references to former top stars Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, according to reports that reviewed an advance copy of the book, despite online speculation that the promotion would omit them. The book, This Book Is All Elite: The Inside Story of All Elite Wrestling, devotes multiple sections to Rhodes’s contributions to major events and storylines, while noting references to Punk without addressing several high-profile backstage incidents.

The report found Rhodes is discussed repeatedly across the book’s early chapters, appearing in sections on All In, Double or Nothing and AEW Dynamite, and in accounts of the TNT Championship and rivalries with MJF, Chris Jericho, Wardlow and Darby Allin. The text acknowledges his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title win and his eventual departure from AEW, though it stops short of detailing the circumstances of his exit. One excerpt quotes commentator Excalibur saying, "AEW had to figure out what their identity was going to be without Cody."

CM Punk is mentioned less frequently. The book refers to him on multiple occasions but does not cover the episodes known as...