Update On New Issues Between CM Punk And AEW, Ace Steel Latest, AEW Collision, More

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PWMania.com Staff
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CM Punk is reportedly at odds with AEW officials once more, but that hasn’t stopped him from offering advice to “fringe wrestling fans” today.

As PWMania.com previously reported, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery announced the new AEW Collision show today, but no mention of CM Punk was made in the final release, as was expected. In a press release, WBD listed Punk as a Collision headliner, but his name was quickly removed. WBD responded to questions about the edit by saying, “CM Punk is not affiliated with TNT’s AEW Collision.” Fightful Select then reported that Punk has been pushing for former AEW Producer Ace Steel to be brought back to the company to work on Collision. Steel was fired after the All Out backstage brawl last September, and while there was no word at the time on whether Steel would be re-hired, Punk was also pushing for Andrade El Idolo and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR to be involved with Collision, which is the plan. Fightful insisted that Punk was still planned for Collision, and that AEW had content plans with Punk as of this week. It was also stated that Punk did not want to be announced for the Collision brand ahead of time, but no word on whether this played a role in the aforementioned edited press release.

In an update, PWInsider reports that the reason Punk was not announced for Collision is that Punk and AEW officials are currently at odds, this time over Steel’s return.

It was mentioned that Steel was expected to return alongside Punk at the Collision premiere next month, working behind-the-scenes. However, word at Dynamite today is that Steel has decided not to work backstage at the actual Collision tapings. As you might expect, that decision put Punk and AEW on opposing sides of the debate, resulting in Punk’s removal from all Collision promotional material released today.

Furthermore, according to an update from Fightful Select, during a recent meeting between Punk and Chris Jericho, held to smooth things over between the two ahead of Punk’s return, Jericho mentioned the possibility of Steel returning to the company in some capacity, with the belief that people working together in harmony could alleviate some backstage tensions, and show that everyone is willing to do business together. AEW officials and Punk reportedly met this week, and Punk was told that Steel would be able to stay with the company and work directly with Punk. However, it was stated that Steel would be unable to attend AEW TV tapings. Punk’s reaction to this ruling was unclear, aside from his disagreement with it.

It’s also unclear whether this is related to Punk not being featured on WBD Collision materials or WBD’s statement that Punk isn’t associated with the new show, but there were plans for an AEW camera crew to film materials at Punk’s home earlier today, and there’s no word on whether that actually happened. Fightful went on to say that as of this evening, they had not heard of any changes to Punk’s plans. However, PWInsider noted that as of this afternoon, based on what sources are saying, WBD’s statement about Punk not being affiliated with Collision appears to be correct, at least for the time being.

PWInsider reported that one source believed AEW World Champion MJF replaced Punk in the Collision promotional graphic, but they were unable to confirm this with multiple sources. This appears unlikely given that MJF was featured on the poster, which can be seen below, along with the other champions who will be used on both Collision and Dynamite.

Impact Wrestling sources confirmed today that they were interested in bringing Steel in for a tryout, but when the invitation was extended several weeks ago, they assumed Steel was headed to AEW or WWE.

For those who missed them, previous reports on Punk, Collision, the AEW brand split, and other topics can be found by clicking here.

Punk took to Instagram Stories today to lash out at Bryan Alvarez, who discussed Punk and Collision on Wrestling Observer Live and then tweeted, “There is definitely a story with this CM Punk deal.”

“Look everyone, Bryan alverez doesn’t like it when misinformed internet trolls make up rumors about him so please stop making up rumors and stories for clicks while Bryan makes up rumors and stories for clicks okay? He’s married for gods sake! By gawd that man has a family!!! (Bryan alverez shut the fuck up and stop talking about me challenge day 1),” Punk wrote on his Stories.

Punk then shared a screenshot of what appears to be an old e-mail from Alvarez to someone else, in which Alvarez denies having problems with Punk because of his previous relationship with Maria Kanellis. Punk then wrote on his Stories, “Friendly reminder: I haven’t been on tv in nine months and y’all still just can’t stop talking about me. Maybe stop, you’ll feel better. Love, hate, it’s all the same. I don’t enjoy being the sole person that props up entire misinformed clickbait industry based on toxic gossip from lying sources, but what can you do? When you’re the king, it comes with the crown.”

Finally, Punk posted a video in which he stated, “One more before I go really quick… the parasocial relationship a lot of fringe wrestling fans have with certain people is really unhealthy. I get the tribalism, like, it’s fun to root for your team, but picking sides seems a little silly. You don’t know me, you don’t know anybody else, so, you know… just go touch grass.”

“This is what happens when there is no hockey,” Punk joked in the following Stories entry.

The relevant screenshots are shown below.

Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.

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