NJPW Star Teases AEW Collision Showdown With CM Punk

By Liam Crowley

AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling are coming together for a crossover super show once again. AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door returns later this month and is set to feature a number of dream bouts between wrestlers from opposing promotions, namely in the form of Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. Beyond that first-time-ever encounter, AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door will also feature a rematch between IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay, an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship bout between titleholder Sanada and challenger "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry, and AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman's first defense outside of AEW when he faces NJPW's Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Considering the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door card was especially bolstered this past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, this Friday's premiere episode of AEW Collision could see a couple of new matches added to the pay-per-view. Considering CM Punk is returning to AEW at that show and is among the company's biggest stars, the Second City Saint is expected to feature on Forbidden Door in some capacity. While recent rumblings have squashed hope of the longtime dream match between Punk and NJPW's KENTA happening at the show, recently social media activity from the inventor of the Go 2 Sleep teases that it might still be in the works.

Immediately after Punk's AEW Collision vignette aired on AEW Dynamite, KENTA took to Twitter to share an image of Punk's AEW Collision poster with his face photoshopped on it. He accompanied the image with 11 moneybag emojis alongside #AEWCollision.

KENTA had previously emphasized that he was only interested in wrestling Punk if he was paid a large sum for the match. While he is known to troll on social media, KENTA's choice of emoji could be interpreted as the NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion getting his payday wish.

It's also worth noting that Punk's return match has him facing off against KENTA's stablemates. Punk and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR are set to wrestle Ring of Honor Television Champion Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold's Jay White and Juice Robinson. Bullet Club Gold has strictly operated as an offshoot faction thus far, but considering the decade-running stable is f-f-f-for life, KENTA could bridge the gap between the bang bang gang and NJPW's Bullet Club this weekend.

AEW Collision premieres on Saturday, June 17th at 8 PM ET on TNT.

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