While CM Punk remains in All Elite Wrestling limbo, a report has suggested that not everyone would be disappointed to see him leave the company altogether.
On May 17th it was announced that AEW Collision will be launching on Saturday, June 17th. It had been believed that this is when Punk would make his return to the company but via edits to press releases, confusion over Ace Steel, and more, that return is now seemingly hanging in the balance.
Following the uncertainty, it has now been reported by Wade Keller of PWTorch that a number of top stars would be “relieved” if he never came back.
While Keller doesn’t mention names, it has previously been reported that Punk and Jon Moxley don’t get on, while the issues between the star and The Elite are well documented.
“I am consistently told by multiple people in AEW in various roles and of various ages and experience levels – wrestlers and otherwise (some who have known Punk for many years and others who just have been around him in AEW) – that most of AEW’s top wrestlers who regularly appear on Dynamite would be relieved if Punk and AEW parted ways.
That has to be a consideration for TK when deciding how far to bend to Punk’s parameters for a return and whether it’s time to start looking for an exit plan, even if the ramifications regarding Collision’s chances of success and TV rights fees from Warner are on shaky ground.”
AEW Working On Backup Plans If CM Punk Deal Falls Through
With a return to AEW appearing far from certain, it has been reported that the company is making contingency plans, should the deal fall through entirely. The debut episode of Collision is due to come live from Chicago and be based around Punk, this has led the promotion to explore holding the taping elsewhere to avoid a negative reaction.