For years, KENTA has pushed for a match with CM Punk, but the two stars have always been in separate promotions until the last year and a half as Punk is in AEW and KENTA is in NJPW, where the two promotions have a working relationship.
Punk returned to AEW on Saturday’s Collision premiere, where he did a promo that included a shot at The Young Bucks. Punk also had a bag with the AEW World Heavyweight Title that he never lost because he was stripped of it due to an injury and the suspension stemming from the Brawl All. A fitting thing considering KENTA has noted in recent weeks that he doesn’t want a match with Punk unless he’s given the bag (money).
As previously reported, this match was the planned direction for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, although Punk “wasn’t thrilled with working with KENTA and he may come across badly in an interview,” a reference to Punk’s controversial interview with ESPN. It should be noted that Punk didn’t mention KENTA in the piece.
The two stars have a long-standing history as KENTA originally used the GTS, a move Punk started to use when he went to WWE and has publicly given KENTA credit for it several times.
As seen below, KENTA noted that the match is never going to happen, although there is some speculation that it’s just a swerve:
Kenta vs Punk is never going to happen.
— KENTA aka Lil’K (@KENTAG2S) June 18, 2023
