Whenever a major star leaves one company, there are always rumours that he/she has entered negotiations with the competition. In CM Punk's case, things were a little more complicated (he didn't exactly leave WWE on the best of terms), but even so, there have been persistent reports that he's been speaking to the powers that be in New York.
Most recently, we heard that Punk's pal Ace Steel - the guy who allegedly took a chunk out of Kenny Omega during the infamous "Brawl Out" incident - was spotted at the Royal Rumble attempting to "broker" a deal for the former WWE Champion's return.
However, as expected, there was no truth to the rumor.
"There were reports going around regarding Chris Guy (Ace Steel) being at the Royal Rumble and then speculating that he was there to broker a deal for C.M. Punk," said Dave Meltzer during the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer. "However, not only is that impossible at this point because Punk is under contract to AEW, but Guy wasn't at the Rumble to begin with so that aspect of the story was incorrect from the start."
Yes, Punk is still under contract with AEW, and despite what went down during the All Out media scrum and his contentious relationship with Tony Khan and The Elite, several well-placed sources believe it's only a matter of time before he returns to action.
Business is business, and there's a lot of money to be made with an ongoing feud between Punk and Omega and the Young Bucks, so let's hope all parties are smart enough to put personal feelings aside.
This may or may not mean anything, but Chris Jericho - who was said to have referred to Punk as a "cancer" to his face after the melee - recently shared the following Tweet.
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