A new update offers plenty of information about and his status with All Elite Wrestling.
Punk has been absent from AEW since the aftermath of AEW All Out 2022. At the pay-per-view, he beat Jon Moxley to win the AEW World Championship, but he suffered a torn triceps during the match. At the post-show press conference, he took shots at The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks), leading to a brawl between the two. Everyone involved was stripped of their titles and suspended, and while The Elite have returned, Punk remains absent.
In an Instagram Story, Punk revealed that Moxley pitched the idea of his quick loss ahead of their bout at AEW All Out 2022.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that, per sources familiar with the situation, Punk made it clear that he wasn’t comfortable competing unless he was cleared ahead of the match on August 24. There were reportedly issues with the creative in the build to the match, but AEW made special travel arrangements for Punk the day of the bout. The report notes that Punk at least suggested the idea of “additional reimbursement” because he was competing without being cleared, according to his claims.
Sapp cited sources who indicated that Moxley and Punk have appeared to have heat since then. As previously reported, Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson led a locker room meeting following “Brawl Out”, and Punk called Jericho a “liar and a stooge” in his Instagram post. Jericho and Punk reportedly shouted at each other after the fight, and Jericho is said to have called Punk a cancer. Punk did not say anything about Danielson in his post.
Additionally, sources expressed that they believe AEW would likely pick Moxley over Punk if it came down to it, and while the heat on Punk has lessened since All Out, plenty is still there.
Sapp went on to report that AEW and Punk have had some contact, with some sources close to Punk noting that he and Tony Khan have spoken in some capacity. Sapp wrote that a meeting was planned for mid-February, but that was reportedly delayed due to Jerry Jarrett’s funeral.
Punk reportedly wanted out of his contract without a non-complete clause, according to sources, but these same sources believed in recent weeks that Punk was open to returning to AEW. Per Sapp, at least one person stated that Punk was willing to apologize for his actions at the scrum, but it’s unclear what context this apology would occur in. Multiple sources said that Punk has expressed some regret for that portion of the situation. However, AEW sources indicated that they lost confidence regarding Punk’s return to the company following his Instagram post.
As of this writing, Punk remains under contract with AEW. Sapp cited sources who expressed that Punk was hopeful he could be healthy by late January. These sources believe that he’d be able to be cleared now or in the near future.
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
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