CM Punk Subtly Builds to MJF Feud Following AEW Collision

AEW expanded its content slate even further this past June with AEW Collision. While past new shows served as auxiliary in-ring content to the company's flagship AEW Dynamite, AEW Collision serves as essentially a second brand within AEW. There is no hard-defined roster split, but a number of talent like House of Black, Bullet Club Gold and Luchasaurus have been essentially exclusive to Saturday nights. Running a primetime weekend wrestling show led to a significant amount of doubters from the jump, and while AEW Collision's viewership has largely teetered over its first seven weeks, the show has impressed with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Aside from a one-off appearance on AEW Dynamite in June, CM Punk has been, as he puts it, a "Collision guy." Punk's social presence has indicated that he has taken pride in being a flag-bearer for AEW Collision, and that continued with a recent Instagram Story.

CM Punk Thanks AEW Collision Roster

Taking to his Instagram Story, CM Punk praised his fellow "colliders" for their work with AEW Collision.

"Thank you colliders for engaging and making Collision a must watch show!" Punk wrote. "We appreciate the fans who let us entertain you on a Saturday night! The best is yet to come! Hard work works. Nobody works harder."

Punk tagged stars who appeared on this past Saturday's AEW Collision including Dax Harwood, Andrade El Idolo, Samoa Joe, Austin Gunn, Cash Wheeler, Julia Hart, Ricky Starks, Buddy Matthews, Colten Gunn, Mercedes Martinez, and Kiera Hogan.

Punk Subtly Builds Future MJF Feud?

To read too much into Punk's post, it is worth noting that neither AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman nor Adam Cole were tagged in the post. MJF and Cole were part of AEW Collision's main event against AEW Tag Team Champions FTR this past Saturday. According to viewership statistics, MJF and Cole vs. Harwood and Wheeler peaked AEW Collision's viewership for the night, hitting 837,000 viewers.

While neither MJF nor Cole are considered "Collision guys," as both men are more regular to AEW Dynamite, Punk omitting a tag for Friedman specifically makes sense in the grand scheme. This past Saturday's AEW Collision saw Punk declare himself the real AEW World Champion, unveiling his AEW Title from AEW All Out 2022. Punk never lost the championship but was rather stripped of it due to injury.

Punk is currently feuding with Ricky Starks while MJF is tangled in a tag storyline alongside Adam Cole, but seeds have been planted for the two bitter rivals to reignite their feud at some point in the future. Punk not acknowledging MJF's contributions to AEW Collision is just the latest tease of what will likely come before the end of the year.