CM Punk hasn’t been seen in All Elite Wrestling since his involvement in the now-infamous brawl following All Out, and while it seemed his return was coming soon, those plans may now be in jeopardy.
In April, reports indicated that despite continued tensions with top stars such as The Elite and Chris Jericho, CM Punk was making his way back to AEW. He reportedly met with Jericho to smooth over tensions, and it was expected that he would be heavily featured as part of the new Saturday night broadcast of AEW Collision debuting in June.
Collision was officially announced as part of Warner Bros Discovery’s upfront today, but Punk’s name was nowhere to be seen. While a WBD email with links to its press release made mention of his name, the company adamantly denied that Punk was involved with Collision in any way when reached for comment.
Fightful Select confirmed that Punk was originally planned for the WBD upfront, but the company made the decision not to use talent for its pre-taped announcements due to the ongoing WGA writers’ strike. References to the star were removed from promotional materials as of this morning, and fans wondered if the company wanted to save the news for Tony Khan’s big announcement on tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
CM Punk Reportedly At Odds With AEW Over Ace Steel’s Return Status
However, the latest update from PWInsider reveals there’s more to the story and that WBD may be telling the truth with its claim that CM Punk is not affiliated with Collision. According to the report, those backstage believe Punk is once again at odds with AEW over the return status of his friend and trainer Ace Steel.
Punk was reportedly pushing for Steel to be rehired after he was fired last October due to his involvement in the post-All Out brawl. During the melee, Steel was said to have not only thrown a chair at Nick Jackson, but also bit Kenny Omega. Punk wanted Steel to come back and be involved in AEW Collision, but according to PWInsider, the decision was made to have Steel not be involved in the actual Collision tapings despite the fact that he was believed to be on his way back to the company.
The decision not to have Steel as part of the tapings put a wedge between Punk and the company, and as a result, he was removed from promotional materials.
PWInsider further notes that IMPACT Wrestling was interested in bringing Steel in for a tryout, but he passed on the opportunity. Those backstage in IMPACT believed he was either AEW or WWE-bound, which would align with reports that he was on his way back to All Elite Wrestling.
As always, Inside the Ropes will continue to report updates on this developing story.