AEW Star Claims CM Punk “Won’t Be Back”

A week removed from reports that CM Punk’s contract may be bought out, an anonymous AEW star has claimed that Punk won’t be returning to the promotion.

The contractual status of CM Punk in All Elite Wrestling has been a rollercoaster to experience since All Out. Heavily involved in the infamous All Out backstage scuffle, ‘The Best in the World’ was subsequently suspended and stripped of the AEW World Championship. It was stated shortly thereafter that Punk almost definitely wouldn’t be back in the Tony Khan-helmed organisation.

Writing in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer stated that the AEW locker room had collectively decided that CM Punk wouldn’t be back in the fold, despite some performers being “willing” to work with him. One star, in particular, referred to Punk as a “black cloud”:

“Punk won’t be back. His value on screen isn’t one percent worth the hassle and black cloud he causes backstage.”

Aside from Chris Jericho, no names were directly mentioned as having voted CM Punk out of AEW. ‘The Ocho’ was among the top names on the roster who were unwilling to work with him ever again.

Dave Meltzer wrote last week that talks had been held with regards to AEW buying out the remainder of CM Punk’s contract. A non-compete clause would only be required if he were to return to WWE, a situation that has allegedly seen changes since July, with Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque more open to a CM Punk return than Vince McMahon was.