Belief that CM Punk’s Instagram story “really hurt the chances of him being welcomed back” to AEW

As previously noted, AEW star CM Punk wrote an Instagram story about his matches against Jon Moxley in the summer of 2022 but then deleted it. During an audio show on PWTorchVIP.com, Wade Keller discussed the current situation with Punk and AEW…

“For one, Jon Moxley and CM Punk do not like each other that much anybody I asked around will say that. It’s very clear. There’s a tension to a degree… certainly, they are not in a position now where anyone would predict that they would want to work together or if they would even feel comfortable working together on a promo or whatever. From what I can gather… the sentiment is that he’s just not welcomed back. The wrestlers don’t want him back. The majority of wrestlers don’t want him back. I would go as far as even saying that my sources are saying the mass majority of wrestlers don’t want him back. One person said maybe one or two of the top third of the roster want him back….in top half. And then there are some younger guys who liked him. In terms of the top stars, the politics are not terribly among the top guys. There’s some tension among the top guys, but it’s mostly, Punk doesn’t get along with Hangman, Punk doesn’t get along with Moxley, Punk doesn’t get along with Kenny, Punk doesn’t get along with the Bucks, Punk doesn’t get along with MJF. Actually, I’m not sure on the MJF thing, but I think the way things went down even that situation, it’s not as strong as it once was.”

“Him going off on Instagram really hurt the chances of him being welcomed back. One wrestler I talked to outright said that it might not matter what the wrestlers think if Tony Khan wants Punk back. Punk might be brought back. My sense is that there would be something greater than a strong push back amongst top talent in AEW if Tony Khan tries to bring back Punk at this point. I think it would be difficult before Punk said what he said on Instagram. I think it’s going to be much more difficult now, but I don’t know if the odds of Tony wanting to bring back Punk have changed based on what Punk said.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)