For those clamoring for a CM Punk return to AEW, it would seem you are not alone. In a candid conversation with Uproxx, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler, FTR, addressed a wide variety of topics, including the huge show Tony Khan has announced for later this year at Wembley Stadium.
“Wembley Stadium is huge for AEW,” Wheeler said. “AEW has to be ambitious right now. We’ve done so much as a company over the past three years that everybody said we couldn’t do. When Tony said we’re going to sell 20,000 (tickets at Arthur Ashe Stadium), that seemed ridiculous to people at the time. Everybody wants to keep moving the goalposts. Everybody wants to keep saying you can’t do this. I love that we’re going to Wembley because even if it’s not completely to the brim full, 50-, 60-, 70,000, whatever it ends up being, that’s huge for this company. As a company that’s only a couple years into its existence. You can’t play it safe all the time. The roster right now is so deep, why not go for it?”
The new AEW Tag Team Champion didn’t stop there when discussing All Elite going all in on London. Harwood has a big idea that, if it comes to fruition, would certainly move a lot of tickets for the event.
“CM Punk and FTR versus the Elite,” Harwood asserted. “That’s gotta be it, right? If you want to sell 50,000 tickets and take this company to the next level, that’s it, that’s me dreaming. That’s the dream match. That six-man tag in Wembley Stadium could help launch AEW to the next level.”
In order for that match to happen, fences would need to be mended between Punk and The Elite following their backstage altercation last year at All Out. While it is unclear whether the men have been able to clear the air, Fightful has reported that Punk and Khan have had several conversations in the past few months. Haus of Wrestling has heard that as well but based on sources we have spoken to, it remains very much unclear whether The ELITE, or some of the AEW locker room, for that matter, are willing to do business with Punk, especially after the Instagram post The Second City Saint released about Jon Moxley.
In the article, Harwood makes it clear that the AEW schedule works much better for FTR and noted, “I think that Tony gets Dax and Cash, FTR, better than Vince.” This an interesting comment considering Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who worked well with FTR in NXT, is technically WWE’s Chief Content Officer. McMahon’s renewed presence, it was noted, was “helpful” in FTR’s decision to stay with AEW, which was made before Endeavor bought WWE.
FTR’s re-signing with the promotion could be viewed as a good sign regarding Punk’s possible return to AEW. There are multiple recent instances of FTR and Punk hanging out and their friendship could be the bait to get Punk back on the AEW hook. If all parties are able to get back on the same page and do business, the match Harwood is advocating for would certainly put money in everyone’s pockets.
Stay with Haus of Wrestling for all the latest on CM Punk’s possible return to AEW.