Punk, who defeated Samoa Joe to retain the “Real World Championship” at this past Sunday’s historic AEW All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium, then spoke about how meeting his mentor and current AEW backstage producer Ace Steel changed the direction of his wrestling career.

“I met Ace Steel and a guy named Danny Dominion in the bathroom of the Rosemont Horizon at a WWF house show,” Punk said. “They gave me a business card. I was like, ‘What is this? A wrestling school? I didn’t know you had to go to school.’ I had heat on me because I was a backyard wrestler. I showed up, and they beat the crap out of me, and it’s been a love affair ever since.

“From there, I wrestled every weekend I possibly could. Nothing mattered — girlfriends, jobs, responsibilities. The only thing that I cared about was getting in a car with whoever I could and driving anywhere. And we were lucky because we were in Chicago. We were very central, like a drive to Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. I could cross over into Canada until I got thrown out the first time.”

During the early stages of his in-ring career, Punk told those in attendance at the Cauliflower Alley Club event that he had to put together a résumé and create a VHS with promos and matches to send out to promoters. He said the first match that put him on the map was when he got to wrestle both Rey Mysterio and the late Eddie Guerrero — Punk faced Guerrero and Mysterio in a three-way match at IWA Mid-South’s Spring Heat event in March 2002.

Punk was fired from AEW on Saturday, after getting in a physical altercation with former FTW Champion Jack Perry, and reportedly chewing out AEW President Tony Khan. As it stands, Steel is believed to still be with the promotion.