Punk was originally to be the focal point of Wednesday's announcement of the new show. On Tuesday, however, WBD was asked to remove him from all graphics and press releases. His image was replaced on the poster with one of MJF and his name was not mentioned along other returning wrestlers such as Miro, Thunder Rosa, and Andrade El Idolo.
Meltzer wrote in today's
Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Punk and Steel were both under the impression Steel would return to AEW as a producer for Collision. This was a tightly guarded secret and sources within AEW even denied Steel had been re-hired.
Meltzer wrote:
Steel, who was the only person fired after the Brawl after All Out last year, for allegedly hitting Nick Jackson hard with a chair in the head and biting Kenny Omega, was apparently one of Punk’s requests or demands to return. Steel and Punk were under the impression he would be back in his old role as a producer.
A conflict then arose when Khan told Punk that Steel would be re-hired but would work remotely rather than attending AEW shows in person.
Meltzer continued:
The story is that Tony Khan told Punk that Steel could have his job and work closely with Punk, but that he would work remotely and not be brought to the Collision tapings. Everything fell apart at that point.
AEW then asked WBD to scrub any mention of Punk from promotional materials. WBD is under the impression that the situation will likely be resolved by next week.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider was the first to report that Steel's involvement with AEW Collision was the conflict preventing Punk from being announced as part of the show this week. Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling also reported that Steel was re-hired by AEW months ago, although had not been backstage.
Meltzer wrote:
I don’t believe anyone, past Punk and whoever he may have told, knew about Ace Steel (Chris Guy) returning until a few found out about a week ago. It also should be noted that while we had heard talk about a Steel deal to return as a producer for Collision from multiple sources, we had also been told from the top in checking that we were told it was not true.
Further details regarding Punk, Steel, and AEW Collision are available in today's
Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Tony Khan announced on AEW Dynamite this week that he will reveal where the debut episode of Collision will take place on next week's show. It is expected that Chicago's United Center will be the venue.
