CM Punk and AEW Square Away Differences, Punk Set for AEW Collision Debut
It looks like AEW have settled their issues with CM Punk and he's expected to return to AEW at the June 17th debut of AEW Collision, the new Saturday night show airing from 8 - 10pm Eastern time. The last wrinkle in the plan was rehiring Ace Steel after the brawl in September.
Punk assumed Steel would rejoin Punk on the road in June but Khan did not plan to bring Steel back on the road. After much discussion, it was agreed upon that Steel would work remotely. Everybody seems to be on the same page, with Dave Meltzer reporting there were NDAs signed by all parties, where they agreed not to publicly discuss the brawl that happened back in September.
When Tony Khan officially confirmed that the first episode of Collision would be held in Chicago at the United Center, the crowd at AEW Dynamite in Vegas did cheer, with a CM Punk chant followed by some boos.
Tony Khan noted on a conference call that the show was ordered by WBD head David Zaslov, who thought there should be more wrestling on TNT. Khan noted that a new deal has not been signed yet and this show was added on to their previous deal which is set to expire next year.
House of Black member Brody King made hint of Punk's debut with two words:
Squared Circle Pit Previews This Weekend with Comedian Josh Alba:
Comedian Josh Alba joins host Rob Pasbani to go through the announced cards for the huge Memorial Day weekend of wrestling, featuring a big event from WWE – Night of Champions AND AEW's Double or Nothing. We go through all the matches and angles, plus talk about growing up watching wrestling in the 90s.
What's on TV this weekend?
WWE Smackdown is the final show before Night of Champions tonight at 8pm on Fox. The show was pre-taped, so you read the results here.
- The KO Show with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
- United States Championship: Austin Theory defends against Sheamus
- AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross
- Raquel Rodriguez & a mystery partner vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley & IYO SKY)
AEW Rampage is scheduled for tonight at 10pm on TNT:
- Rush, Dralistico, and Preston Vance vs. The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn
- Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir
- Ethan Page & The Gunns in action
- Lee Moriarty & Big Bill vs. Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor
After Rampage, AEW will air a 30-minute Countdown to Double or Nothing Special.
WWE Night of Champions is this Saturday on Peacock:
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend against Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
- Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Asuka
- SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Natalya
- Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes
- World Heavyweight Championship tournament finals: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
- Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther defends against Mustafa Ali
WWE NXT: Battleground is this Sunday on Peacock:
- NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker
- NXT Women’s Championship finals: Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria
- NXT Heritage Cup: Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee
- NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy
- Last Man Standing: Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak
- NXT Tag Team titles: Gallus defend against The Creed Brothers
AEW Double or Nothing is this Sunday on PPV and Bleacher Report:
- AEW World Champion MJF defends against Sammy Guevara, “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry and Darby Allin in a four-way
- AEW Tag Team Champions FTR defend against Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal
- AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends the title in a 21-man Blackjack battle royal against Jay White, Juice Robinson, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, Swerve Strickland, Keith Lee, Dustin Rhodes, Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Kip Sabian, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, Tony Nese, Ari Daivari, Big Bill, Lee Moriarty, Komander, Bandido, The Butcher, The Blade.
- TNT Champion Wardlow defends against Christian Cage in a ladder match
- AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter defends against Toni Storm
- TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Taya Valkyrie
- Anarchy in the Arena match: The Elite (Kenny Omega, Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta)
- Chris Jericho vs. Adam Cole in an unsanctioned match
- The Gunns (Colten and Austin) & Ethan Page vs. Jeff & Matt Hardy and Brother Zay with Page’s contractual status on the line
More Wrestling News
WWE is very interested in signing Tama Tonga and expressed interest in signing Richard Holliday after he revealed beating cancer, according to Dave Meltzer
Meltzer also reports that the long term plan is for another Roman vs. Cody match, with the hope of saving it for WrestleMania next year. Roman will be wrestling on Money in the Bank next month, as well as SummerSlam, but his opponents haven't been locked in yet.
Mercedes Moné suffered a broken ankle last Sunday at the Resurgence show. Moné signed a new long-term deal with New Japan and the Strong Women's title was created specifically for her.
Hulk Hogan was on the MMA Hour and teased one final match (as he always does) saying "Shane McMahon called me. He goes, 'You got one more in you, old man?' I said, 'Take it easy with the old man stuff, brother.' I said, 'What do you want to do?' He goes, 'All you got to do is stand in the middle of the ring and I'll come to you.' I said, 'Well, right now my back needs a little more work but that's something we can talk about next year.' I've always wanted to have a retirement match but right now, I'm not moving around the way I should be so I'm going to keep working, keep training and keeping doing rehab and see where I'm at about six months from now. All I've found out in the wrestling business, brother, is that you never say never."
Bianca Belair revealed to People that she and her husband, Montez Ford, are filming a new reality series about their life and family, which will air on Hulu in the second half of 2023. The series does not yet have a name.
Jamie Hayter hasn't been on AEW TV because she's dealing with an injury. It is unknown how much she will be able to do at the PPV on Sunday.
Sami Zayn, who is performing this weekend at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia for the first time, was able to take a moment while there to visit Mecca, something every Muslim hopes to do once in their lives:
Here's another cool moment from the Middle East:
