CM Punk Reacts To Announcement Of AEW Collision Return

On Wednesday night's "AEW Dynamite," it was announced that CM Punk will make his highly-anticipated return to AEW during the premiere of "AEW Collision" on June 17 in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Punk took to his Instagram stories to post a couple of graphics advertising his return for the new Saturday show along with a clip from the movie "Billy Madison" of the titular character besting a group of children at a game of dodgeball, presumably as a means to send a message to the rest of the roster.

Punk hasn't been seen on AEW programming since the notorious backstage brawl that took place at last year's All Out in September. While he was never officially suspended for the incident, Punk was ruled out of action indefinitely after he tore a muscle in his arm earlier that night during his AEW World Championship victory over Jon Moxley, for which he required surgery. 

In the aftermath of the brawl and Punk's injury, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced that the AEW's top title had been vacated, leading to a tournament that ended with Moxley reclaiming the championship. It now remains to be seen if Punk will target the AEW World Championship upon his return, seeing as he never lost the title.

Other names announced for "Collision" include Miro, Samoa Joe, Thunder Rosa, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Andrade El Idolo. Punk's name was missing from the press release announcing the launch of the show last month, following which a TBS representative clarified that Punk was not affiliated with the new Saturday show. 

However, Punk's return was all but confirmed when AEW announced the United Center in Chicago as the venue for the premiere episode on June 17. As such, the announcement made by Khan on this week's "Dynamite" was more or less expected.