CM Punk’s return to All Elite Wrestling will happen on Collision’s premiere episode, which will take place at the United Center on June 17.
AEW will need to hit a grand slam with the premiere episode to set the tone for the future of the show as it’s being built around the former AEW World Heavyweight Champion.
The company confirmed Punk’s return on Wednesday’s Dynamite, several months after reports started to come out that he was on his way back, only for the announcement of Punk’s return to be held up due to the status of Ace Steel.
Punk and AEW had been at odds over a misunderstanding regarding bringing back Steel, leading to Punk being removed from the AEW Collision announcement. In the end, all parties involved came to an understanding.
Steel will work remotely instead of at Collision shows to prevent issues between him and talent.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the pair will have an involvement on the creative side of the show. It should be noted that all of the top talent in AEW has a strong say in what they do creatively on television.
Meltzer wrote, “The belief is Punk and Ace Steel will be heavily involved in the creative of the show. At least they will be for Punk’s stuff and the main angles and storyline on the show will revolve around him and obviously he’ll have great input into that.”
All Elite Wrestling has also started to announce Punk for more upcoming events.
