Yesterday, we learned that CM Punk was scrubbed from AEW’s promotional materials for the reveal of its new Saturday show named Collision. Subsequent rumors and reports indicated there was a blow up between Punk and Tony Khan over whether or not Ace Steel can work backstage on the road at Collision each week. It sounds like Punk wanted him there, Khan didn’t want him there, and the situation was not resolved in time for the formal announcement of AEW Collision.
Punk clearly wasn’t happy with the rumors going around about the impasse between him and Khan over Steel’s status. Many people noted that Punk looked like the bad guy here, because he should know why Steel being allowed on the road is a bad idea after last year’s backstage fight at All Out that led to this whole fiasco, including Steel being fired by AEW.
Well, there are more than two sides to every story, and now it looks like CM’s side of the story is getting out.
A new report from Haus of Wrestling claims that Steel was actually rehired by AEW months ago. He’s apparently been working remotely, with the understanding that he will return to the road when Punk is back for Collision:
“Haus of Wrestling can confirm that Ace Steel was re-hired by AEW ‘several months ago’ but has not been actively working in the backstage area. Steel was terminated by the company shortly after the locker room altercation following AEW: All Out but was re-hired shortly after.
Upon Steel’s re-hiring, he was told he would be working with Tony Khan on creative, in some capacity, but his presence backstage would upset some of the talent. So, for that reason, Steel has been working remotely for the company for the past few months.
There was an understanding in place that once AEW: Collision debuted, Steel would return to the road for AEW, working as an agent on that brand. However, on Tuesday, the decision was made not to bring Steel back on the road with the promotion, and Punk learned of it shortly after. Following that, there was some miscommunication between lawyers and, subsequently, Punk was pulled from the Collision announcement.”
The report goes on to indicate that Punk remains on good terms with Khan and is looking forward to helping AEW grow in the future. It also claims that during Punk’s recent meeting with Chris Jericho, locker room leader Chris was on board with the idea of Steel’s return.
From this perspective, it would seem that Punk and Khan had an agreement in place about Steel returning to the road, but that decision was changed on Punk on the eve of the Collision announcement. In other words, Punk isn’t the driving force behind this latest backstage drama in AEW.
What do you make of this report, Cagesiders?
You must be logged in to post a comment Login