AEW: There's Some Hope Regarding The Elite and CM Punk's Return to Television

By Connor Casey

CM Punk, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks were not featured in any capacity on AEW programming from the "Brawl Out" incident last month up until last night's AEW Dynamite. Fans quickly noticed that had somewhat changed, as The Bucks were spotted in the advertising for AEW Rampage while Punk was seen in the montage of former ROH World Champions building to Chris Jericho's title defense against Dalton Castle. 

All of that was followed up by the news that dropped on Wednesday morning that Ace Steel, the fifth person involved in the locker room fight following the All Out pay-per-view, had been released by the company. Steel allegedly bit Omega during the altercation and the bite mark on "The Cleaner's" arm was visible in a number of photos and videos taken the following week. Sean Ross Sapp posted an update on the situation to Fightful Select on Wednesday afternoon, shedding some light on the situation. 

After recapping their appearances on the Dynamite broadcast, Sapp wrote, "However, Tuesday was also the first time we've heard movement or optimism on 'potential returns,' though that was left vague. We were told that the parties involved are more in contact with All Elite Wrestling now than they'd been for a while before, but the context of that was absent."

Is CM Punk Staying With AEW?

Days after CM Punk's comments during the post-show media scrum that started the locker room fight, Sports Illustrated reported that Steel, The Elite and every backstage producer who attempted to break up the incident were suspended indefinitely. All of the backstage officials and Brandon Cutler have already been brought back (minus Steel), but it was unclear if Punk was suspended or was potentially on his way out of the company. AEW President Tony Khan has consistently declined the comment on the issue as there's a pending legal issue still hanging over the entire incident. 

Whether or not Punk has been suspended is somewhat of a moot point right now, as he recently underwent surgery for an arm injury (believed to be a torn triceps) and won't be physically able to wrestle until well into 2023. While his appearance in the ROH montage is a good sign, it's still not confirmation that Punk will return.

Will The Elite Return to AEW Soon?

The closest The Elite have gotten to addressing their status was when Matt Jackson reacted to The Young Bucks' specialty sneakers selling out within hours. He took to Instagram to say the fans will see them again soon, but there have been no updates since then. 

On the same night as the fight, The Elite became the first AEW World Trios Champions by defeating Hangman Page and The Dark Order. On the same night they were stripped of the titles, Death Triangle became the new champions.

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