The CM Punk saga that began with his now famous post-All Out tirade may be close to a conclusion — but there’s a catch.
In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that AEW is in talks to buy out the remainder of Punk’s deal, which could have several years remaining since he has only been with the company for a little more than a year.
What could be holding things up is AEW attempting to ensure that Punk doesn’t simply show up in WWE right after his buyout.
The hold-up right now is said to be the non-compete period. Obviously if the non-compete is an issue, it’s about interest in going to WWE because there’s no need for a non-compete otherwise because nobody else but AEW and WWE can pay him close to what he was making. There are those in WWE who have been very negative towards him in the past, but it is a wrestling war and the optics of looking publicly like they have taken Punk from AEW would be very significant. HHH’s whole game right now is about surprise debuts and Punk would be the biggest possible for him to bring in for impact.
Meltzer adds that there’s no guarantee that WWE would rehire Punk, even under new management, but the downside risk if they would is pretty obvious for AEW. Punk is also injured and wouldn’t be able to wrestle (for anyone) until 2023, but as one of the industry’s best on the microphone, all he’d have to do to make an impact is appear in promo segments for WWE and it would definitely cause a stir.
Regardless of how the non-compete situation ends up being resolved, it’s clearer than ever that Punk is likely gone from AEW. It’s a stunning turn of events for a company and performer who seemed like they were perfect for each other in the summer of 2021, just to see their relationship unravel so quickly and publicly less than 18 months later.