CM Punk AEW Debut Rumors Explained

Former WWE Superstar CM Punk just might be making his debut in All Elite Wrestling with the next episode of AEW Rampage, The First Dance, if the recent rumors are to be believed. Rumors have been sparking wildly among fans that CM Punk was going to be making the jump to AEW ever since it was first announced that the Friday, August 20th episode of AEW Rampage was going to take place in the United Center in Chicago. Fueling the fires even more was the fact that this episode was now carrying the “The First Dance” as a subtitle.

All Elite Wrestling themselves have been digging into these rumors and reports even more in the past few weeks in several ways from big to small. While Punk himself, Tony Khan, or any of the other executives have yet to confirm any of these reports, it hasn’t stopped any of them from playing around with fans either as not only is the United Center the largest indoor venue in Punk’s hometown, but the AEW performers themselves like Darby Allin have openly (but also cheekily not openly) called him out. You can check out a full list of examples below from Reddit user TurnaboutAdam:

Playing into this the most is CM Punk himself, however. The former WWE Superstar has gotten fans’ attention for trolling in the past, but all of these major recent teases have seen him steer far more cleanly into a potential All Elite Wrestling debut. One of which came from his Instagram stories in which he references “05, 11, and 21” noting the “Summer of Punk” that have come before and teasing a new one to come.

Reports about his interest in returning to pro wrestling started popping up last Summer, but Punk himself broke his silence on the rumors in an interview with Sunday Night’s Main Event’s Jason Agnew. When asked what his plans were for the reported date of August 20th, Punk said (h/t Fightful), “I think I might be doing a screening, this isn’t confirmed yet so I probably shouldn’t blast this out everywhere, but we’re talking about doing a screening of episode three of Heels at AMC in Chicago. That’s one of the dates that has been proposed. I hope to see everybody there.”

It’s yet to be seen whether or not CM Punk will truly become All Elite, but the wrestling world will definitely be tuning into AEW Rampage: The First Dance on Friday, August 20th on TNT at 10:00PM EST.