Despite all reports to the contrary, Warner Bros Discovery denies that CM Punk is involved in its upcoming AEW Collision programming on TNT.
After weeks of speculation, the debut of AEW Collision was officially announced today as part of WBD’s upfront. The new program is set to air on Saturday, June 17th, and the official press release lists Samoa Joe, Thunder Rosa, Miro, and Powerhouse Hobbs as part of its roster.
Punk’s name was not brought up at the upfront, which came as a surprise after it’s been heavily reported that he will be making his return to the company on the debut edition of Collision that’s expected to take place at the United Center in Chicago. An email with links to the press release, however, did include his name, and a cached version of the release shows that he was initially listed as part of the roster.
Comicbook.com reached out to WBD about Punk’s potential involvement in Collision, and the company replied that “CM Punk is not affiliated with TNT’s AEW Collision.” However, an update from Fightful Select indicates that he’s very much factored into plans for the show.
Will Tony Khan Announce CM Punk’s Return On AEW Dynamite?
On last week’s episode of Dynamite, AEW President Tony Khan declared that he would be making a huge announcement on the May 17th episode, promising that the announcement would be one of the biggest in company history. While his announcement could be regarding the new Collision broadcast, many expect that Punk’s exclusion from the WBD upfront leaves room for Khan to announce his return on Dynamite.
Fightful Select notes that Punk himself didn’t want his return to be announced too far in advance, but it’s unclear whether this altered plans for WBD’s press release.