CM Punk announced on the June 3 episode of AEW Rampage that he would be out of action for the foreseeable future due to a surgery-requiring injury (believed to be his foot). The news came less than a full week after Punk won the AEW World Championship in the main event of Double or Nothing, but AEW opted to let him keep the title and crowned an interim world champion (Jon Moxley) at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
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Punk has remained mostly quiet on social media following the announcement, but on Thursday he uploaded a quick video to his Instagram story showing him training on an exercise bike. AEW’s advertising for the All Out pay-per-view on Sept. 4 features Punk, leading many to believe he’ll have his world championship unification match with Jon Moxley in the main event of that show.
Punk talked with ComicBook back in mid-May while promoting his surprise cameo on Mayans M.C. When asked if his AEW run had lived up to its expectations so far, he said, “This run has been more than what I expected. I had expectations. They were pretty high. So far, they’ve pretty much shattered all that, and that’s just based on analytics and numbers of how well we’re doing. I’ve long said that I’m there for the fans in the building. Nowadays everybody is still focused on ratings numbers when cable is absolutely — I canceled DirecTV months ago. I just, I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s too convoluted. It’s too expensive. Streaming services are, I feel like, are the future. So when people look at ratings and say that wrestling is dying, I say, ‘Well look at our buildings. We’re selling out and we’re doing our first million-dollar gate.’ So I don’t attribute that just to me. I attribute that to the spirit of AEW and everybody behind the scenes that makes it all work and makes it all click.
“But the run, my run specifically, my stuff as a whole, I’ve never been happier in a wrestling ring. I’ve never, to me, been telling more fluid, better, reality-based stories. It’s been a real treat,” he added.
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