5-time WWE World Champion is "probably gonna be back" in AEW despite online rant - Reports

AEW President Tony Khan has had a lot to deal with in terms of his roster, with many names missing for months, most notably CM Punk. With rumors that the star might return, Dave Meltzer addressed the reports and admitted that Punk will likely return.

The Brawl Out Incident seemed to have initially divided AEW fans online, but in the following months, it seems that Punk's detractors have substantially decreased. Recently, however, The Second City Saint stirred more trouble when he slammed Dave Meltzer, Tony Khan, and Jon Moxley in an Instagram Story, which many believe ruined his return.

According to Meltzer in a recent Wrestling Observer Radio clip, the news of Punk's current AEW status isn't in good faith.

“So now we’re at this situation where obviously he’s probably gonna be back, and if they wanna work there’s ways to do it. This is clearly not good faith, because if it was good faith we wouldn’t hear anything about it and they would settle it and we would see an angle out of nowhere that would shock everyone.” [00:45 onward]

It remains to be seen if CM Punk will eventually make his way back into AEW, but FTR's Dax Harwood recently claimed that the Straight Edge star wants back in, which corroborates the reports that he's positive about staying with the promotion.

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Missed out on last night's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.

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Dave Meltzer believes that all the drama would've been avoided if AEW initially punished CM Punk for his promo

While the backstage brawl created most of the controversy and put All Elite Wrestling in a difficult position, many believe that CM Punk's media scrum rant started it all. However, Dave Meltzer believes the trouble began with Punk's promo against Hangman Page.

During the same clip, Meltzer expressed how he believes CM Punk being reprimanded could've avoided many of the issues.

“Because he was never punished, it created a lot of heat that got worse and worse. If he had done that promo and Tony [Khan] would’ve said ‘Dude, you’re going against the script, you’ve got to sit out for a couple of weeks.’ I think that at that point, either he would’ve pouted and quit or he would’ve not, and this thing would’ve been alleviated.” [00:00 onward]

Punk initially claimed that Hangman Page was the one in the wrong during his rant at the All Out 2022 media scrum. Unfortunately, fans might never know who began the drama, as it continues to be a matter of "he said, she said."