Here’s the latest on CM Punk’s status with AEW after his ‘ultimate blow up’ screwed Tony Khan

Yesterday was supposed to be one of the biggest days in AEW history, with many fans expecting the return of CM Punk to be announced during the reveal of a new Saturday show named Collision.

The new TV show was indeed made official, but there was no mention of Punk’s name in the press release or graphics for Collision. Some people took this to mean that AEW was saving Punk’s return as a surprise for the launch of Collision on June 17.

However, things quickly got weird when Punk’s name was discovered in a link to an original press release for Collision. Warner Bros Discovery followed up on this by denying that Punk was affiliated with the show.

Later in the day, a story broke about Punk’s status for Collision hinging on whether or not Ace Steel is allowed to work backstage at the show. Punk then took to social media to tell everyone to ignore the toxic rumors and lies that are spreading on the internet.

Got all that? Phew.

The latest update on this situation comes from Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, who confirmed that Punk’s return was supposed to be announced at the WBD upfronts, but he was scrubbed at the last minute:

“Punk was supposed to be announced at the show. That was the big announcement, was gonna be CM Punk at the upfronts. The star of the show, he was in the graphic, he was the lead in the press release. And then yesterday, WBD was told to remove CM Punk from everything. And they removed him from almost everything. They forgot one link.”

“There were people who had been told yesterday at WBD, scrub him from the thing...there was all kinds of speculation [on] what does this mean. Why did they pull him at the last minute?”

Meltzer said he heard a similar story about AEW and Punk reaching an impasse over Steel’s status. Tony Khan’s announcement on Dynamite was supposed to be about Punk’s return, but Khan was instead screwed over by this “ultimate blow up”:

“Punk wanted Ace Steel around...Tony did not want Ace at the buildings. Punk thought and Ace thought that he was going be at every Collision show with Punk. And he was told that, no, he can work here, supposedly. But whatever it was, he was not going to be at the buildings. And that was the blow up.”

“There were people who thought that this was the ultimate blow up, and Punk screwed Tony on Tony’s big announcement on Tony’s big day.”

Even so, WBD remains hopeful that the situation will be worked out and a reconciliation can be reached.

“Nobody from the AEW side has talked about this at all, nor confirmed any of this. From the WBD side, they have said that their belief is that there will be an attempt to work it out. They’re hopeful that they work it out, that it’s not a dead deal. But this is the situation.”

Tony Khan said next week he will reveal the location of the first episode of Collision on June 17. We already know the United Center in Chicago is booked for that date, because that’s Punk’s hometown and the plan all along has been to build the show around him. This is essentially a stalling tactic from Khan to buy himself another week to work things out with Punk so that the United Center can be announced. Otherwise, it’s not clear what Tony will say next week.

Meltzer concluded that Punk has the leverage over Khan. And as far as CM Punk creating more drama before he even returns to AEW, well, that’s what you sign up for when you have CM Punk on your roster:

“Tony’s in a really tough position, and Punk has leverage here for the obvious reasons.”

“None of this surprises people. This has been the gist of it for a long, long time. And it will continue to be like this.”

How do you see this situation being resolved, Cagesiders?