CM Punk’s return to AEW has not passed without incident, and speculation runs wild over his impact on the AEW locker room.
Ahead of his comeback on Collision where the star discussed trying to contact The Elite, his relationship with Tony Khan, and lasting issues with Hangman Adam Page stemming from their feud back in 2022.
While some were expecting the interview with ESPN to be more explosive given the speculation around it, Punk’s comments have still reportedly caused much concentration backstage.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer discussed the reaction to Punk’s claims that he had tried to get in touch with The Elite. Meltzer said that those on the opposing side to Punk have said there have been no attempts to reconcile, meaning that in theory, someone is lying.
“One person very close to Punk noted to us the same thing weeks ago, stating that they want to work together but it hasn’t happened yet because Punk was not allowed to contact the other side. On the other side, we’ve been told that no attempts to this day have been made. This has been said many times before as well as confirmed to us again after this article came out.
Essentially, either one side is simply making a story up, or one side wants to reconcile, was told you can’t contact them, and the other side has never heard about it, so the problem is the decision keeping them apart. Or the decision keeping them apart could be the one that averts more problems even if it festers the current ones. It was also noted by many that there are ways to go through intermediaries and that such a thing has not happened.”
Meltzer also referenced the meeting involving Punk, Chris Jericho, FTR, and Tony Khan in the weeks before his return to AEW. The long-tenured journalist noted that no one has given any indication that the meeting helped improve the backstage atmosphere.
“Another person noted that the reason they had the meeting with Chris Jericho was for him to start the ball rolling. Nobody involved with that meeting, which were believed to have been Punk, Khan, Jericho, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, have ever said anything about what happened. But since the meeting, nobody has made any indication things are better and this past week didn’t help anything in that regard. Forbidden Door will be the first time all are together on the same show since All Out.”
Top AEW Star Fearing The Worst About CM Punk Situation
Meltzer also discussed the feeling backstage now that Punk is back in the fold and had appeared on the June 21st episode of Dynamite. He stated that he’s been told by a “top star” that they left Dynamite in a “bad mood” and felt the situation around Punk was a ticking time bomb that wouldn’t end well for all involved.