AEW Collision Debut Backup Plan If CM Punk Issues Aren't Resolved

In a perfect world, CM Punk would be at "AEW Collision" when it debuts on June 17. But the world of professional wrestling is far from perfect, and if he's unable to return, AEW does seem to have a backup plan in place. According to the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, "They do have the United Center booked," which of course is in Chicago, Illinois. But if there's no Punk, then Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida is the likelier option.

"In Daily's Place, people have been told it's a backup plan," Meltzer added.

For over a month, it seemed all but certain that Punk was on his way back to AEW programming. He hasn't appeared for the company since All Out last September when he defeated Jon Moxley to become AEW World Champion for a second time. Unfortunately, the event immediately took a backseat to what happened afterward: a backstage brawl following Punk's incendiary comments during the post-show media scrum directed at The Elite and others.

Over recent weeks, things looked to have improved between all sides. Punk and Chris Jericho reportedly had a reasonably successful meeting. Then this week arrived. Amid rumors about his AEW status, Punk was removed from promotional materials for "Collision" reportedly due to an issue involving Ace Steel's status with the company. Going from the United Center and a potential Punk return to Daily's Place and no such return would be a gut punch to many fans. That said, there's still time to sort this out.