From The Other Side: How Close Did CM Punk Get To Signing With AEW Before Getting On Board With FOX

It can’t hurt to listen. Earlier this week, CM Punk made a shocking return to WWE, as he made his first appearance on WWE programming since January 2014. Punk walked onto the set of Backstage and promised to be back next week, meaning that it was more than just a one off moment. That alone was enough to make some headlines, but at the same time there were a lot more details to be heard. One of them was how everything was set up and there was one major thing that almost changed everything.

During the summer, Punk’s future was debated and discussed with fans talking about whether he would be part of a WWE series on one of the FOX networks, going to AEW or heading somewhere else. Punk dropped a few hints about possibly working for FOX but never made anything clear. It turns out that the deal Punk has is exclusively with FOX and not WWE, and was signed earlier this week. However, Punk was indeed in discussions to sign elsewhere.

It was a big return. Check out the backstage reaction:

According to Wrestling Observer Live, Punk had face to face talks with AEW President Tony Khan about coming in to the company. The offer was described to be for “a lot of money” but Punk turned it down. There is no word on how close Punk came to signing and there is no indication of any hard feelings from either side. Punk signed with FOX instead of WWE or AEW and is going to be a semi-regular correspondent for Backstage going forward. At the moment, there is no indication of Punk ever getting back into the ring.

Punk has done some great stuff in WWE. Check out some moments you may have forgotten:

Opinion: You can’t blame AEW for trying to get a name like Punk. He is one of the few names that feel like they have escaped from WWE and a lot of people would be interested in seeing him come back. At the same time, it is a big deal for WWE to have him on their programming, even if it is through FOX. Fans are not likely to care one way or another so hopefully we get some great moments as a result. If nothing else, it is appropriate to have one of the biggest stars of this generation back in WWE, even if it does not last long.

Do you want Punk to wrestle again? Will he ever be in AEW? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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