CM Punk’s AEW days are completely in the rear view. Any theory that Punk could be worked into AEW’s ongoing “devil” storyline with AEW World Champion MJF were squashed this past weekend. Punk returned to wrestling at WWE Survivor Series, shocking the Allstate Arena when “Cult of Personality” hit just seconds before the premium live event was set to go off of the air. The Second City Saint addressed his WWE return this past Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw, declaring that he was “home” before slyly telling the at-home audience that he was “not here to make friends” but to “make money.”
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AEW President Tony Khan has kept quiet about Punk’s WWE return, responding to questions about it by noting he cannot speak on the matter legally. That said, when it comes to reflecting on Punk’s contributions to All Elite Wrestling, Khan has nothing but positive things to say.
Tony Khan Reflects on CM Punk’s AEW Run
The AEW President acknowledges the self-proclaimed best in the world’s efforts to making AEW a stronger company.
Speaking to New York Post, Tony Khan pointed to the fact that CM Punk is a common denominator in three of AEW’s biggest shows ever produced.
“The First Dance (CM Punk’s AEW debut) was an incredible moment in wrestling and was part of a very important time in AEW,” Khan said. “All Out 2021, along with ALL IN, are our biggest pay-per-views of all time. We’ve had a lot of great success as a company, as a team. In some of the most exciting times, CM Punk has been a big part of that team.”
Punk joined AEW in Summer 2021, noting at his first press conference that Khan was the only person that could get him back into the wrestling industry.
“We’ve been talking a really long time, and a few years ago, it just wasn’t the right time,” Khan said in August 2021. “I think he wanted to see how this thing went. He wasn’t ready to come back to wrestling, especially not for a start-up company. Now we’re long past the start-up phase. It’s been really successful. We signed a big TV extension and I think once we got the extension and it looked like we were going to be in place for a while, it probably made the company look a lot more like a stable option.”
