Last September’s backstage fight at All Out between CM Punk, Ace Steel, and The Elite resulted in Punk being stripped of the AEW world title and removed from television.
In the first couple of months after the incident occurred, the prospects for a Punk return to AEW weren’t promising. But now it sounds like Punk misses wrestling and wants back in. He should be close to fully recovered from the torn triceps he suffered the same night as the backstage brawl, so the story of CM’s potential return to AEW is picking up steam again.
While discussing the subject on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer indicated that Punk’s return is likely to happen:
“He’s probably gonna be back. The only way he’s not gonna be back is if he doesn’t want to be back. That’s the reality. And if he’s back, then the question is how long will it last?”
“Hopefully everyone learned from this. The problem is that I think everyone has to prove that they learned from it. And until they do, everyone is going to be skeptical of it, and it may not play out so well. If everyone has learned from it, they can go in there and they can all co-exist, and the company will be stronger.”
“And at some point, it’ll happen. Look, Bret Hart worked with Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart would have never not worked with Shawn Michaels, but Shawn had decreed he would never work with Bret, and eventually he did. And there were reasons that it happened that way. And this can happen the same way at some point.”
When Tony Khan’s recent HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT of AEW All In at Wembley Stadium hit my ear holes, one of the first thoughts that came to mind is CM Punk has to be on that card in late August due to the sheer size of the venue (roughly 90,000 seats). It’s the most tickets AEW has ever tried to sell for one event, so they will need as many of their top stars on hand to do it.
AEW might also be running Chicago’s United Center for All Out shortly thereafter, which is another no-brainer spot for Punk, especially given the fact he sold the place out when he first returned to pro wrestling in 2021.
Based on what Meltzer says above, it doesn’t sound like AEW President Tony Khan will stand in the way of a Punk return. If Punk wants back in AEW, it will probably happen, even if other top stars like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, or The Elite aren’t happy about it.
Do you think Punk’s return to AEW is imminent, Cagesiders?
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