Tony Khan and former WWE Champion were reportedly "working on a reconciliation" before recent outburst
AEW President Tony Khan was reportedly on the brink of reaching an agreement with a former WWE Champion on returning to All Elite Wrestling until a recent outburst put things in doubt.
The former WWE Champion in question is, of course, CM Punk, who has been away from AEW for nearly seven months due to a combination of injuries and his involvement in the "Brawl Out" incident in September 2022.
Things were looking promising regarding a Punk return until he took to his Instagram page on March 23, where he blasted former AEW World Champions Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho, as well as acclaimed journalist Dave Meltzer.
OH BOY. From CM Punk on Instagram just now.
Says Mox refused to lose to him, calls Meltzer a liar, and calls Jericho a liar and stooge. https://t.co/fUoOAoCtTn
Meltzer gave an update on the situation in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, where he claimed that Tony Khan and CM Punk were in talks to bring the Straight Edge Superstar back.
"The situation with C.M. Punk became a bigger story this week when he put up an instagram post where he went off on Tony Khan, Jon Moxley, myself and Chris Jericho, which he immediately took down. This came while sides were working on a reconciliation that was at least in principle agreed to, per the decision of Khan who wanted him back. That would also seem to be behind the story that broke of an attempt to book the United Center for All Out this year, rather than the NOW Arena," said Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer continued by stating that things are up in the air at the moment, but an AEW return for CM Punk may not be off the table just yet.
"Where things stand at this moment are unknown. There are tons of complicated issues involved and differences of opinions on the subject. But it was going to happen and then this happened and it still may end up happening," said Dave Meltzer.
Jon Moxley has recalled his initial meeting with Tony Khan and CM Punk
One of the subjects of Punk's Instagram outburst was Jon Moxley, who joined his wife Renee Paquette on her podcast, "The Sessions," this week to talk about CM Punk and their feud in the summer of 2022.
Moxley recalled his initial meeting with Punk and Tony Khan when the Straight Edge Superstar returned from a broken foot in August 2022.
FULL MATCH: Jon Moxley vs CM Punk - AEW Dynamite (8/24/22)
rt to scare cm punk
https://t.co/3CNblqr4hz
Moxley felt as if he was bending over backward for the company at this point due to not being under an official contract, implying that he felt as if he didn't have to do the job due to not being an official employee.
The two men eventually met on the August 24 edition of Dynamite, with Moxley picking up the win. This led to a rematch at the All Out pay-per-view, where Punk was the one who left Chicago with the AEW World Championship.
Do you think CM Punk will ever return to AEW? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.