AEW fans are only hours away from the Warner Brothers Discovery 2023 upfronts presentation, and news about it, as well as a potential CM Punk return, are already spewing out like a broken fire hydrant in the summer. Expected at tomorrow’s presentation is the announcement of AEW’s new flagship show, Collision, and possibly more.
Punk has, of course, been off AEW TV since his explosive All Out media scrum last year and the subsequent backstage altercation that took place involving The Second City Saint, Ace Steel, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and others. As part of the expanded AEW programming on Warner platforms, more big stars will be needed to fill airtime, and it would appear that has played in Punk’s favor as he looks to transition back to TV action.
Wrestling Observer and Mat Men Podcast’s Andrew Zarian is reporting that the wait for Punk’s return may not be that much longer, as an official announcement is expected “in the coming days.” With the upfronts taking place tomorrow, it is possible Punk’s comeback is included in the rollout for Collision but there is still Dynamite tomorrow night as well, and the rest of the week, for that matter.
Tony Khan teased last week that tomorrow’s Dynamite will feature a huge announcement. While all signs point to Collision being announced at the upfronts, and then reiterated on Dynamite, it is possible Khan stretches both the Collision and Punk announcements out over the course of the day.
There’s also another big announcement waiting in the wings for AEW, the amount of money they’ll be getting as part of their new TV rights deal with WBD. The young promotion’s new deal could reportedly be worth upwards of a billion dollars, and be stretched out over several years. We’ll all have to wait and see how many of these big announcements Tony Khan chooses to roll out in the next twenty-four hours.