Backstage News On Whether There's Been Any 'Mending Of Fences' Between CM Punk And AEW

Fans hoping for CM Punk to make his return to AEW television soon should know that there is reportedly much work left to be done. Dave Meltzer offered an update regarding the fallout of "Brawl Out" on the latest episode of "Wrestling Observer Radio." "There was a lot of damage done that night," Meltzer said, acknowledging that many want Punk to come back because the ratings for AEW have been flat as of late. Meltzer previously reported that Chris Jericho was pushing for Punk to not come back, but the ball remains in the court of AEW owner Tony Khan.

"Tony's gonna do what Tony's gonna do and I don't know what that's going to be. ... There's a lot of damage there to the brand. It wasn't just like he yelled at The Young Bucks. It was the brand. I mean he basically said that AEW is second-rate," Meltzer added, having been in attendance for Punk's infamous post-All Out press conference. According to Meltzer, there are bridges that haven't been crossed yet between the two parties.

"There's a lot of mending of fences that need to be done and there's been no mending of fences at all," he said. "Punk could be back in two months and then there's a decision of how that goes. That's going to be a big story of how that goes down or how it doesn't go down." Punk happened to tear his tricep that night while defeating Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, and hasn't been seen in AEW since. Without Punk appearing for AEW, ratings for "AEW Dynamite" have plateaued below a million viewers and viewership for "AEW Rampage" has nosedived.