All Elite Wrestling held their All Out PPV Event last September 4th from the NOW Arena in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Immediately following the All Out PPV Event, a media scrum would take place and a major brawl would ensue between CM Punk, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and Ace Steel following CM Punk’s comments on The Elite and that would lead to AEW stripping Punk and the Elite of their championships and being suspended indefinitely alongside AEW producer Pat Buck, Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler, some of which have already made their returns.
Former AEW World Champion CM Punk is one of the most outspoken and controversial personalities in all of pro wrestling, but he is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in all of pro wrestling as well. The former AEW and WWE World Champion is most notably known for his 434-day reign as WWE Champion and the pipebomb promo he cut during his WWE days, but it has been discussed that Punk isn’t expected to make a return to AEW following the events that transpired at the post-AEW All Out media scrum. It was also reported that a contract buyout will most likely be taking place between CM Punk and AEW and that the former AEW World Champion could possibly be returning to the WWE, with a non-compete clause in place.
Prior to the former AEW and WWE World Champion making his return to pro wrestling over a year ago and ultimately signing with All Elite Wrestling, the FOX Network was pushing the WWE in talking with Punk and possibly even signing him as he previously worked on WWE Backstage on FS1. Higher-ups in WWE even believed that if Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company, he would definitely not sign Punk, especially after what transpired during the post-AEW All Out media scrum, but with Triple H in charge things could be different.
There have been reports that people close to Punk suggested the former AEW and WWE World Champion has caught the wrestling bug yet again and with WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin being offered to compete in a match at next year’s WrestleMania 39, it has been speculated that WWE will try to get CM Punk to return for a match with The Texas Rattlesnake. Dave Meltzer reported on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio Program that he doesn’t know where Punk stands on the legal side of things and that he is still injured, but him going back to the WWE will definitely be big for both sides and it could be the biggest money match of all time. Meltzer also noted this match will shake up the business, but he doesn’t know if Punk will be given his release from AEW as there is just a lot of issues there.
This is what Dave Meltzer said:
“I don’t know the legalities for Punk, but I think that’s the biggest money of all the matches he could do because Punk coming back to WWE would be big. There’s the injury that Punk might be able to make it to WrestleMania with a torn triceps. Everyone’s healing is different…and then there’s the legal issue.”
“If you’re looking for the match that’s going to shake up the business, the Punk match is the one, but I don’t know that Punk will have a release (from AEW) – there’s just a lot of issues there.”
Dave Meltzer also noted that there are people in the WWE who definitely don’t want CM Punk to return, but there are not people on the creative team and at the end of the day it will not be their decision it will be the decision of Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Meltzer then said that everyone knows what happened in All Elite Wrestling and Triple H will definitely have a number of questions at the back of his mind such as they don’t need the same thing to happen in the WWE, especially with the kind of money at stake.
This is what Dave Meltzer said:
“Punk’s return to WWE would be big if they could do it. There’s a big question. Do they want to do it? I know people in WWE who absolutely do not want him there, but they are not the people on the creative team. Everyone knows what happened in AEW, it’s like, ‘Do we really want that? Do we need that? No, we don’t need that. We don’t really want that.’ But at the end of the day, it’s not their decision. It’s the decision of Nick Khan and Stephanie and Paul (Triple H). Paul may just go in there and go, ‘Look what happened. We don’t need it.’ They don’t need it, and he may just do that. If it was Vince, Vince would do it, I think, with that kind of money at stake.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for transcribing the quotes.
