CM Punk last appeared on AEW programming in September of 2022 and since then there’s been a lot of talk about his status with the company. It was expected that Punk’s return would be announced along with AEW Collision earlier this week, but Punk was not part of the announcement, and it was later reported that he is once again at odds with AEW due to the status of Ace Steel.
It’s also been reported that Punk is still on good terms with Tony Khan, and that Warner Bros. Discovery is hopeful CM Punk will return to the company. However, it doesn’t seem everyone feels that way as Wade Keller of PWTorch.com is reporting that he’s heard from numerous people that they would be relieved if Punk left the company.
“I am consistently told by multiple people in AEW in various roles and of various ages and experience levels – wrestlers and otherwise (some who have known Punk for many years and others who just have been around him in AEW) – that most of AEW’s top wrestlers who regularly appear on Dynamite would be relieved if Punk and AEW parted ways.
That has to be a consideration for TK when deciding how far to bend to Punk’s parameters for a return and whether it’s time to start looking for an exit plan, even if the ramifications regarding Collision’s chances of success and TV rights fees from Warner are on shaky ground.”
Tony Khan is expected to announce the location for the debut episode of Collision next week. It was rumored that the show would be taking place from the United Center in Chicago, but it seems that AEW has a backup plan if Punk doesn’t return and you can get more on that here.
