AEW has been building AEW Collision around CM Punk for months, with his return scheduled for the show’s premiere on June 17.
The premiere episode was expected to take place at the United Center in Chicago. However, the two sides are at odds over a misunderstanding concerning the return of Ace Steel. Click here for the most recent information.
Warner Bros. Discovery is hopeful that the issue will be resolved within the next week, as they reportedly pushed hard for his return. Because of the way The Last Dance was handled last year, with Punk’s debut not being announced, fans are concerned that AEW will book the United Center and Punk will not appear on the premiere episode of Collision.
Next week on Dynamite, AEW President Tony Khan is expected to announce the location of this show.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported that the plan was always for it to take place at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Johnson wrote the following about the situation:
“If the company and CM Punk get everything back on track, that’s still the plan. If not, they will look to have the first episode elsewhere. With only three weeks to fill a venue as of Wednesday, my guess is they would not chance having it in Chicago without Punk, because everyone will expect him to appear and assume the entire situation is some sort of work (which as of this week, it was not) so perhaps Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place could (and this is SPECULATION on my part) make the most sense.”
Johnson added that AEW and Punk have spoken since the announcement, but there has been no update on where things stand between the two parties.
Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio that Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL is the backup plan if AEW does not reach an agreement with Punk and does not hold the event at the United Center.
Meltzer stated, “He said he’s gonna announce the location of the first show, June 17th. They do have the United Center booked. They are working on booking Daily’s Place. In Daily’s Place, the people have been told it’s a backup plan. It’s not the A plan. So Chicago is still in place. So I think that the basic thing is, they either settle it, and he announces the United Center and Punk is back, or they don’t. And if they don’t, I mean from my standpoint, I think that that’s got to be it. You should never say that because it’s never it. But this was a really bad situation the way it went down.”
In regards to Warner Brothers Discovery stating on Tuesday that Punk is not affiliated with Collision, Meltzer noted the following:
“Those in WBD were saying that making that statement was a mistake and they should have left it alone and let the story play out. Later in the day, internally at WBD, they were saying that they hoped, like the previous Punk blow-ups they were aware of, that it would resolve itself this week.”
WOR: Dave Meltzer discusses the backup plan for the debut episode of AEW Collision if it isn't in Chicago. https://t.co/mYdKSjV7fm pic.twitter.com/8pzKvIw1NN
— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) May 19, 2023
