AEW: Status Updates on CM Punk and Kenny Omega

CM Punk and Kenny Omega’s statuses with AEW got some big updates this week. Fightful Select dropped a report on Wednesday reiterating Punk’s desire to want to return to AEW programming, while also noting that AEW’s contract negotiations with Omega and The Young Bucks have progressed. Lucha Libre AAA’s Konan also noted in an interview with Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling that AEW is actively negotiating a new deal with Omega, which is why they couldn’t book him for this weekend’s Triplemania XXXI event in Monterrey. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had updates on both men on Wednesday night. Starting with Omega, Meltzer noted that he is still on his current contract, which was extended to make up for the months he spent from late 2021 through mid-2022 recovering from a series of injuries and surgeries. 

“Konnan did an interview, and it got people thinking that Kenny Omega had signed a new contract. Kenny Omega is under contract with AEW. His contract was extended because he was out for, I think, nine months due to injuries. I believe that he is under contract until around November or December. There is no new deal that’s been signed,” Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingNews.co). 

As for Punk, Meltzer noted that he’s “probably” going to be back, but noted that the situation is starting to play out like a “public relations game.” He said Punk’s lack of punishment after calling out Hangman Page on live TV last year caused the backstage situation to initially deteriorate. 

“So it got worse and worse and worse. And so now we’re at this situation where it’s like, obviously he’s probably going to be back, and if they want to work and he’s going to be back, there’s ways to do it. But going in there and trying to make the other people look unprofessional is probably the worst way to do it. Unless you’re trying to just kind of pressure them out of the company. If that’s the idea, then again, we’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out,” Meltzer said. “…This is clearly not good faith. Because it was good faith, we wouldn’t hear anything about it. They would settle it. They would settle it and we would see an angle out of nowhere that would shock everyone, or maybe we would talk about it or whatever and know the angle was coming. And if that happens, that’s fine. But as long as they’re talking about it, it tells me that, number one, they have no deal to do it. And number two, by doing it publicly, they’re not really looking at doing it. They’re looking at playing a public relations game over it.”

Fightful’s report noted that Punk is willing to come back and either work with Omega and The Young Bucks or be completely separate from them. The trio was against the first idea a few months ago, but it’s unclear if that’s changed since then. The three appeared on this week’s AEW Dynamite and attacked Blackpool Combat Club to get revenge on the faction putting the Bucks in the hospital weeks ago.