AEW President Tony Khan could soon have another headache as CM Punk nears a return to full fitness.
Punk has been out of action since September 4th when he won the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing defeating Jon Moxley. However, during the bout the star sustained a serious triceps injury that required surgery. Following the match Punk famously went on the attack in the post-show press conference and ended up in a brawl backstage.
At the time there were suggestions that he would never appear to AEW again, but he remains under contract. There were also reports that a number of top AEW stars assured the locker room in the aftermath of All Out that Punk would never wrestle for the promotion again.
With this in mind, the prospect of Punk being fit and available presents a new problem for Tony Khan. Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer broke down the potential issues faced by Khan as Punk becomes available.
“Tony Khan is legit in a really hard position. Bringing Punk back and not putting him on top probably won’t make Punk happy and putting him on top, perhaps he’ll draw very well but that’s not a lock, and those who carried the company when he was gone won’t be happy he’s back if he’s on top. Then you have the talent that won’t want him back unless he makes amends (and that would be the best thing for everyone, and try and apologize to smooth things out but I don’t know that is in he cards which is why the situation becomes hard).
Will people leave over it? Maybe and that has to be figured in but Moxley and Jericho won’t leave I don’t think since they have long-term deals. Punk is probably not far from being able to return and has said that he wants to wrestle again. Khan is in a contract year (maybe, WBD could just pick up its option for one more year at a much higher price point) and WBD has financial issues and is cutting way back.”
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During the report, Meltzer also dismissed reports that Punk was originally scheduled to lose to Hangman Adam Page at Double or Nothing before getting Tony Khan to book him to win the World Championship. Meltzer added that Punk was always planned to win, and Khan actually wanted the star to win the World Title months earlier.