The surprise return of CM Punk last week has caused quite a stir in the wrestling landscape. While the former WWE champion hasn’t admitted to being the masked man who gave Daryck St. Holmes the G.T.S last Friday at a MKE Wrestling event, numerous sources have confirmed that the former WWE superstar did make a one night return to professional wrestling.
With CM Punk being a hot topic in wrestling again, fans have started speculating that the ‘Straight Edge’ star could actually make a return to the squared circle. Perhaps All Elite Wrestling?
It was reported recently that CEO Tony Khan had Punk as the first guy on his list to be apart of the new promotion, and speaking to Chris Van Vliet, the CEO of AEW talks about the former WWE champion, but never reveals if he’s had talks with Punk about joining the company:
"He's a great talent and a great performer, I don't know if that was Phil in the ring, but he's great. I'm from Illinois and I grew up around Chicago sports and he's obviously very popular there," said Khan.
One of the reasons Punk left the WWE was due to the hectic and grueling work schedule. Khan doesn’t believe that wrestlers need to be on the road six or five times a week to make a good living:
"For us, I want to offer a quality of life and a work/life balance that is the best and is unparalleled in the business for the best quality of life. What that means is less time on the road, but still working regularly, still performing on Pay Per View and on television in the future. I believe you don't need to spend 6 days on the road to make a good living as a wrestler or 5 days on the road per week necessarily," said Khan.
Check out the full interview where Khan speaks on why AEW will be a success, their television deal, and much more: