CM Punk had surgery earlier this week.
According to a new report from Dave Meltzer, Punk had surgery this week to repair the torn left triceps he suffered on the dive to Jon Moxley in their AEW All Out main event match last Sunday.
Punk’s doctor reportedly advised immediate surgery to prevent muscle atrophy.
As of this writing, there is no official timetable for Punk’s return to in-ring action, but this injury and surgery typically require around 8 months of recovery, which could put him back in action next spring, possibly in time for the 2023 AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view.
Punk’s AEW future is in jeopardy as a result of the All Out backstage brawl. A third-party investigation is currently underway, and it is expected that more suspensions and possibly releases will be issued once it is completed. Click here for the latest on the backstage incident, potential legal issues and ramifications, another situation with Punk, and additional fallout.
Punk had previously undergone surgery to repair a broken foot sustained during the June 1 Dynamite. Punk was injured when he jumped off the ramp to let fans hug him, but he didn’t realize how serious his injury was until he worked a full match with IWGP, AAA, and ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR to defeat Max Caster and The Gunn Club. Punk came off the top rope a few times on the injured foot during that match. He then required 4.5 hours of surgery and extensive rehabilitation before being allowed to return. Punk, as the then-AEW World Champion, returned to action on the August 24 Dynamite, but was defeated in less than 3 minutes by then-Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. Punk won the title last Sunday at All Out, but he was stripped of it three nights later due to a backstage brawl at the NOW Arena.
During the All Out post-show media scrum, Punk addressed the recent foot injury, saying, “I did the stage dive, what an idiot. I must have hit my foot on the top of the guard rail, but I didn’t feel it. You would think that shit would hurt, but people caught me, put me back down, I waited for FTR. It just didn’t feel right. I thought I just whacked it, but then I wrestled on it, blew a springboard, came off the top with a double axe, did all this shit. What I eventually did was, yeah, I fractured my foot, but then I pulverized the bone. Surgery was supposed to be an hour, it wound up being four a half (hours). I got three plates and 16 screws in my foot and I essentially have a new foot now. It is 100 percent. But it is a new 100 percent. Every day, I rehab. This is the worst injury I’ve ever had. I was in the bedroom for two weeks and it was really hard for me because I wanted to have this great summer, do good for Tony, sell tickets, draw money and ratings.”‘
Punk also commented on recovering from the recent foot injury during the All Out scrum, saying, “The rehab, I could tell you how hard and painful and grueling it was, but I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. I was doing two and a half hours of rehab, plus, once they told me I could bike, I was biking my life away. Then I would go to the gym later and lift weights. I was trying to bust my ass to hurry up. Not necessarily hurry up to get back, but hurry up and get healthy. If I’m not healthy, I’m no good to anybody. It was really tough. If I was 23, it would have been a hard injury because I literally couldn’t do anything, trying to get around on crutches, up and down stairs. It was pretty bad and depressing.”
Following the conclusion of All Out, Punk was scheduled to defend his title against #1 contender MJF, possibly at the Grand Slam Dynamite on September 21, but the All Out injury would have prevented that, and that was before the backstage brawl occurred, forcing AEW President Tony Khan to vacate the title. A new AEW World Champion will be crowned in the finals of a tournament currently underway at the Grand Slam Dynamite. Bryan Danielson defeated Adam Page on this week’s Dynamite and will now face Chris Jericho on the following week’s Dynamite after Jericho received a first-round bye. Moxley also received a first-round bye and will face Sammy Guevara on Dynamite next week. At the Grand Slam Dynamite, the winner of Jericho vs. Danielson will face the winner of Moxley vs. Guevara to determine the new AEW World Champion.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
