Warner Bros. Discovery Told That CM Punk Is Returning To AEW
CM Punk’s return to AEW is now looking increasingly certain with a new report stating that the company’s US broadcast partner, Warner Bros. Discovery, has been told that Punk will be coming back.
Punk has not been seen in AEW for several months following the backstage fight with The Elite that took place following All Out in September 2022.
In recent weeks, Punk’s return looked to be dead in the water after he publicly took aim at Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley but things have begun to look like the former AEW World Champion will be back in the promotion after all.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew Zarian noted that Warner Bros. Discovery has already been told that CM Punk will be returning to AEW:
“I know for a fact that Warner has been told he’s coming back. They are very much aware of the situation. He had recently said he is willing to return to AEW and he wants to make it work.”
Zarian had previously mentioned that plans to bring CM Punk back into the fold included a “soft” roster split where Punk would be featured weekly on AEW’s new Saturday night show to avoid having to share a backstage area with The Elite, but the notion of a roster split beyond Punk himself only appearing on one weekly show looks to not be happening:
“The plans have been put in place to possibly have a tentative Saturday show to be the ‘soft’ brand split. When I used that term yesterday on Mat Men, I was told that it’s less soft than I’m putting out there. I guess there will be people that are predominantly on the other show, on the Saturday show.”
Reports have also suggested that despite the very public issues that exist between CM Punk and Chris Jericho, Jericho might well be willing to do business with Punk as Zarian added:
“Jericho has presented himself as a locker room leader, Jericho came out and said he’s toxic or whatever he said, and he’s willing to make this work because he realizes that there’s money in this.”
CM Punk is set to have a meeting with Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, and FTR – with others also possibly attending – in the coming days as the company tries to salvage something from what was one of the darkest episodes in AEW history.
h/t f4wonline