It sounds like CM Punk ‘wants back in’ AEW

CM Punk’s future with AEW remains unknown following last year’s infamous media scrum tirade and backstage fight with The Elite at All Out 2022. Punk was quickly stripped of the AEW world title and removed from television in the aftermath of that debacle.

He also suffered torn triceps that very same night in his world championship victory over Jon Moxley. Punk’s recovery timeline was estimated to delay any potential return to the ring until about May of this year. That’s why even though Punk has been absent from AEW programming for over six months, we won’t really know what his future with AEW looks like until he is healthy. If Tony Khan keeps him off TV at that point, it will be a much stronger indication that the relationship between Punk and AEW is fractured beyond repair.

This is a hot topic again following a recent Punk comment on Instagram where he used an example of a backstage fight from decades ago in the Memphis territory between Steve Keirn and Koko B. Ware to imply that the situation is fixable.

First, we have CM’s close friend Dax Harwood telling the media that Punk misses wrestling:

Punk then writes on social media about pro wrestlers squashing their beef and moving forward:

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer concluded that Punk is looking to get back in AEW:

“What it says is that he wants back in…and other people have said that too, that he’s looking to get back in.”

“It’s up to Tony. And Tony’s gonna make a decision at some point. Right now, he’s probably just about ready, if not ready already from the torn triceps, so it is one of those things that he can do soon enough.”

We don’t know what decision Khan will ultimately make on Punk. But what we do know is that AEW chose to keep an image of Punk off TV on last night’s (Mar. 22) episode of Dynamite.

The show opened with the Young Bucks being attacked backstage and sent out in an ambulance. An AEW production truck was spotted in the background, and Punk’s image on the truck was conveniently covered up by an assortment of objects:

What does all of this mean? You can let us know in the comments below, Cagesiders. Do you think CM Punk’s return to AEW is imminent, or unlikely to ever happen?