The Summer of Punk is seemingly upon us once again with the return of the Second City Saint on the debut episode of AEW Collision.
It has not been an easy ten months for the promotion as it had to walk the tightrope of a PR nightmare following the post-press conference brawl at the All Out PPV involving The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks), Ace Steele and CM Punk. The fight cost Ace Steele his job with the company. Punk had already suffered a ruptured triceps during his title match with Jon Moxley before the fight that would put him on the shelf for ten months. It did not stop President Tony Khan from stripping Punk of the AEW Title he had just won and stripping The Elite of the Trios championships they had just won at All Out. The media scrum also resulted in indefinite suspensions of Punk and The Elite.
All parties were removed from all promotional videos and vignettes that aired before each show. Punk was removed from the cover of AEW's first video game. With no official details emerging from the scrum but many believing Punk was at fault and several highly respected wrestlers not wanting him to return, his future with the company was murky. It is now ten months later.
There was some skepticism about CM Punk returning, even in his hometown of Chicago. Would there be a 50/50 split in the crowd? Would he be overwhelmingly welcomed back? Or is Punk just that over in Chicago that he'll never get booed? For the moment at Collision, the crowd was largely pro-Punk. With a loud, f-The Elite chant breaking out as well. This directly contrasted with the f-CM Punk chant during The Elite's return at the Full Gear PPV two months after their suspensions were handed out. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks made little mention of the altercation that kept them off TV.
As you can see in the promo, Punk took subtle shots with professional sniper accuracy at The Elite and MJF. What's next for all parties involved, including the AEW brand, will make for a good conversation. But good TV?
Let's not kid ourselves. This return is different. CM Punk returned after seven years to professional wrestling to launch AEW's new show Rampage and sold out the United Center on a rumor he "maybe, possibly, conceivably" might be there. This time, there was no sell-out crowd at the United Center, with Punk advertised to return weeks in advance to launch AEW's new show Collision. AEW will be in Chicago again for Dynamite before heading to Canada for roughly a month. How the crowd reacts at Dynamite and in the following weeks in Canada will serve as a better barometer for how the more extensive fan base feels about his return. Polarizing characters like Punk don't come around often, which is good for business if used properly.
The mammoth in the room that AEW officials must have and continue to lose sleep over will be how long they can dodge fans demanding this match. CM Punk's promo on Saturday night revealed that his target is MJF, as MJF holds the AEW World Championship. A championship CM Punk never lost. From a storyline standpoint, it makes sense for Punk to go after the current champion, as he was forced to relinquish due to injury. Kenny Omega has a lot on his plate, with a return grudge match against Will Ospreay this weekend at the Forbidden Door PPV, defending the IWGP US Championship. Omega also has Konuske Takeshita and former mentor Don Callis to deal with. The Young Bucks and returning Hangman Adam Page have had their hands full with the Blackpool Combat Club.
It will ultimately come down to one crucial truth that only CM Punk and The Elite can answer. Can they work together? Anyone who has held a job knows a straightforward fact. Some people you do not get along with. These performers may feel it's better to keep their distance than dare to work with each other. But wrestlers in the past have found ways to work together during real-life drama. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, Edge and Matt Hardy, Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit, Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle all had some of the nastiest real hate behind the curtains. But they managed to stow away those emotions as best they could to make some bank.
FTR and The Young Bucks are no strangers and have had their share of personal animosity played out in front of the fans. FTR's Dax Harwood has publicly stated via his podcast, FTR with Dax, that he would love for the parties to work through their differences to be able to put on a match. Dax and most wrestling journalists agree that a match with CM Punk vs. The Elite could be a box office gate-breaker.
With their current setup of programs, the promotion can keep everyone apart. Thanks to the creation of Collision, both parties may never appear on the same show again. AEW could have a plan for a full-on head-on collision at the company's premiere PPV event, All In at Wembley Stadium, in August if there is a plan in place for this genuine once-in-a-lifetime fight. It should occur at Full Gear, marking one year since the altercation.
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