CM Punk's Injury Is Not Looking Good
Backstage update on the AEW World Champion's injury after an X-ray last week.
Things aren't looking great for current AEW World Champion CM Punk at the moment.
Company founder and president Tony Khan recent spoke with the New York Post's Joseph Staszewski on a number of topics, with his injured headliner coming up during comments on Bryan Danielson (who is also sidelined), Claudio Castagnoli, and the Blackpool Combat Club.
As Castagnoli was a substitute for the injured Danielson ahead of AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door (26 June), it was natural for Punk, who was forced to pull out of a bout with Hiroshi Tanahashi, to come up as well. Delivering his first concrete update on Punk's injury, Khan revealed that an X-ray the World Champion underwent last week didn't bring positive news:-
"I thought as we’re moving toward “Death Before Dishonor” on July 23, I originally thought that would be an incredible place for [Castagnoli] to debut if Bryan Danielson is good to go. Admittedly when Claudio and I were talking, we had a conversion on June 2, so it was the day after the [LA] Forum show so I was just kind of getting my bearings and realizing I had put TV together all through “Forbidden Door” and that was probably going to change. I knew [CM] Punk was gonna need some time. His X-ray came back Friday and it wasn’t good.
Punk defeated 'Hangman' Adam Page to become AEW World Champion at Double Or Nothing 2022 on 29 May. The following Friday's Rampage saw him announce his injury, with Khan deciding not to strip Punk of his newly-won prize, crowning an Interim World Champion instead. After a short series of eliminator bouts, Jon Moxley took that belt by effectively taking Punk's spot opposite Tanahashi at Forbidden Door.
There remains no stated timeline for Punk's recovery and AEW return.