He was not happy on Wednesday following some big news, so is an irate CM Punk off Collision?
This is a tricky one, so we have to sort of go with what we know, but add a tremendous caveat.
At face value, yes, an irate CM Punk is off Collision, AEW’s newly confirmed television show on TNT.
While the show was one of the worst-kept secrets out there, not all of the rumors about it are proving to be true…yet.
On one hand, if indeed CM Punk is off Collision, I wouldn’t blame anyone involved for making that call.
To that point, TNT has said Punk has nothing to do with the show.
However…
This is professional wrestling. Swerves and secrets and all that fun are just standard operating procedure, right?
So, if for weeks or months fans have heard about a new show, debuting in Chicago, which would feature the return of CM Punk…how can you un-ruin the surprise?
By saying he won’t be on the show, and having the network itself do the denying.
So…which is it, or are we seriously looking at…
Irate CM Punk Off Collision?
In a word…maybe.
According to Fightful, Punk is irate over the handling of Ace Steel, which has a tenuous truce on life support.
Remember, following the All Out brawl, Ace Steel was fired.
Now, as Punk was working to mend fences, there was an indication that Steel could actually be brought back to AEW.
It seems that this was discussed among many key parties-Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, the network and so on. And, it was all moving in the right direction.
However, recently CM Punk was told that while Steel could work with him, he could not be at AEW television tapings.
It is believed that this did not sit well with Punk. Currently, it is unknown if any of his anger stems from the Warner upfront not mentioning him at all, or the statement indicating he is not attached to the show.
Things were seemingly very nearly all fixed until this week. Per the report from Fightful, AEW and Warner had promotional material prepped featuring CM Punk-including graphics for his requested bout against Samoa Joe.
Now, once again, things are in limbo.
Punk got even more upset when his exclusion was discussed on a Wrestling Observer Live session. His reaction on social media was…not pleasant.
So, maybe Punk was coming back…and maybe now he isn’t? As nearly done as the return seemed to be, I have to think it still happens.
However, it appears to have suffered a setback, and Punk’s very public tantrum probably won’t help things.
In the grand scheme of things, CM Punk off Collision seems to be a temporary thing…somehow or other, I feel things get repaired yet again.
