When AEW started promoting a special announcement about CM Punk and the AEW World Championship for this week’s episode of Rampage, people feared the worst. When his promo included mention of good news and bad news, part of those fears were confirmed: Punk is injured, and will need surgery.
As for the championship, well, that part is a little more complicated.
Many fans and observers thought Punk may have been injured during his trios match that saw him team with FTR on Dynamite. He was limping afterward, particularly when he came to the ring to confront MJF in a moment not shown on the TV broadcast.
Punk’s Friday night promo confirmed that he is indeed hurt and will need surgery, though he stopped short of revealing exactly what was “broken.” He also said he volunteered to relinquish the championship, but that “Tony Khan said he believed in CM Punk.” He finished his promo by vowing to come back better, stronger and hungrier, making no mention of giving up his title.
However, Chris Jericho, on color commentary as he is most for most episodes of Rampage, said twice on the broadcast that Punk would be relinquishing his championship.
During the show’s main event, Excalibur cleared part of the situation up while still causing a bit of confusion. Punk will not have to hand over the AEW World Championship, but the company will crown an interim champ while he is out.
The process for doing so begins next week on Dynamite. A Battle Royale to begin the show will determine an opponent for Jon Moxley. They’ll face off in the main event, with the winner going on to wrestle for the interim title at Forbidden Door later this month.
The question is who they’ll face, but there are several weeks to answer that part of the equation. Since NJPW is the other part of Forbidden Door, it’s entirely possible that one of their wrestlers will have a shot at the interim championship — possibly Hiroshi Tanahoshi, who made a challenge to Punk on Wednesday.
At the very least, Punk will be back, and that’s ultimately good news for AEW fans.