On Saturday, June 17th the debut episode of AEW Collision will feature the long-awaited return of CM Punk.
The former World Champion comes back to the promotion after a nine-month absence due to suspension. He was suspended and stripped of the title following his controversial promo at the All Out 2022 media scrum that resulted in an alleged backstage altercation with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.
Throughout the entirety of his hiatus, Punk remained intrinsically linked to the promotion with multiple rumours and reports surrounding his relationships with colleagues and his status within the company. After months of hearsay and a lot more controversy, it was finally confirmed that he will return to All Elite Wrestling on the inaugural edition of Collision, which takes place at the United Center in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
CM Punk Will Team With FTR On AEW Collision
On the June 7th edition of Dynamite, AEW President Tony Khan made yet another major announcement surrounding the debut episode of Collision. Over the past few weeks, Khan has taken to the screen to reveal the locations of the shows and other breaking news. This time around he revealed Punk will team up with the World Tag Team Champions FTR in the main event against ROH Television Champion Samoa Joe, and Bullet Club Gold – Juice Robinson, and Jay White.
.@TonyKhan made it official!@JayWhiteNZ, Juice Robinson, and @SamoaJoe will face off against @AEW Tag Champs @DaxFTR, @CashWheelerFTR, and @CMPunk will headline the premiere of #AEWCollision!#AEWDynamitepic.twitter.com/G8rPLezgLJ
— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) June 8, 2023
Punk has a close connection with FTR, especially Dax Harwood, who stood by him throughout his suspension. The trio are good friends and have teamed in the past against Max Caster and Gunn Club on the June 1st, 2022 edition of Dynamite. It was during this outing that Punk suffered an injury, which resulted in him taking time off to recover and the introduction of the interim title.
Following a tournament, Jon Moxley won the interim championship and interestingly the Collision headliner will be Punk’s first match back since he defeated Moxley to unify the titles in the main event of All Out on September 4th of last year.
AEW Collision airs on Saturday, June 17th at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.