CM Punk is back in AEW after making his return on last Saturday’s premiere episode of Collision, where he opened the show with a promo, taking a shot at “counterfeit Bucks,” before headlining the show.
He made a surprise appearance on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite to set up his match this week on Collision. Before the show, it was reported that due to the show being in Chicago, the hometown of Punk, AEW President Tony Khan decided not to have The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) appear on the show live.
As previously reported, the issues between those in AEW who don’t like CM Punk and Punk have not improved following his interview with ESPN and his return promo. It was said the divisiveness has become worse over the last week.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that one top star in the promotion is fearful of the ticking time bomb regarding the issues leading to another incident.
Meltzer wrote, “One top name noted to us that they went home after the show on Wednesday in a bad mood and even with the key people kept apart and not on the same shows, described the fear of this being a ticking time bomb that will not have a happy ending.”
From the start of talks, the idea of bringing back Punk was to separate him from those who have issues with him and vice versa, thus building Collision around him on a different roster.