Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that discussions between CM Punk and AEW have been productive and people close to him believe that he will be at the first Collision show on June 17.
This was also backed up in a post on the F4W Board by Ryan Frederick:
“I can’t speak for Bryan because I don’t know what info he’s been given, and there’s definitely been a lot of different info being passed around with this whole thing. I can only say that, based on what I was told at midnight ET, Punk is good to go for Collision, that he signed an NDA pertaining to Brawl Out (which was described as necessary for him to return but also a difficult negotiation, but he knew he had to do it and there’s a lot of people he doesn’t want to let down), and a couple of other legal documents that were also necessary for him to return that protects AEW in case of another bad situation. There’s one thing I’ll keep quiet on because it’s nothing major, but this whole thing is basically now him playing ball because he says he loves AEW and wants to help the company grow and he knows what will happen if there’s another big issue.”
UPDATE: Bryan Alvarez tweeted the following: “Appears everything clear for liftoff tonight”
Appears everything clear for liftoff tonight
— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) May 24, 2023
As for Dave Meltzer reporting about Daily’s Place being a backup location if they moved Collision out of Chicago, Fightful confirmed that while Daily’s Place was not specifically mentioned to them, there were backup locations discussed.
For what it’s worth, the Khan family is involved with Daily’s Place so it would make sense that the venue would be the backup place for AEW as it was during the pandemic. When the venue was opened a few years ago, Jaguars Owner Shad Khan (Tony’s father), Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, and Daily’s President and CEO Aubrey Edge were the ones to make the announcement about plans for the venue.
Obviously, with Punk back in the fold, they can move forward with plans to do the show at Chicago’s United Center. Tonight on Dynamite, Tony Khan is expected to announce the location for the first Collision show.
