WBD statement on CM Punk, rumors swirl of another falling out between AEW and its former champion

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Warner Bros. Discovery issued a statement regarding CM Punk’s status for AEW Collision. “CM Punk is not affiliated with TNT’s AEW Collision,” reads the statement given to Connor Casey of ComicBook.com.

Powell’s POV: Punk was originally listed in an email version of a press release regarding Collision, but he was removed from later forms of the press release. I assumed that Tony Khan would announce Punk’s involvement on tonight’s AEW Dynamite and while I guess he still could, the widespread rumor throughout the industry today is that whatever agreement Punk and AEW reached has fallen through. While not confirmed by AEW nor Punk, the popular rumor is that the company was planning to rehire Ace Steel in some capacity, but Punk balked at returning to AEW television after he was informed that Steel would not be allowed to appear backstage at AEW events.

WBD’s press release headline for the AEW Collision announcement originally mentioned CM Punk and other wrestlers, which you can see in the cached listing (left) before it was edited (right).

h/t to @JimmyTraina for noticing pic.twitter.com/VUzkvjzbh1

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 17, 2023