Did AEW create Collision to specifically cater to CM Punk?

CM Punk has been officially announced for AEW Collision. Tony Khan announced on the latest episode of Dynamite that the Second City Saint will make his return to the promotion on the debut episode of Collision on June 17. Fans have been wondering if Khan created the Saturday's show just for the former AEW World Champion.

The answer to that question is "No". AEW Collision was not created for CM Punk. The show had been in the pipeline for some time. It was previously reported that the new show will pave the way for a “soft roster split,” creating new opportunities for the talent.

“As of last week, it was believed that there would be a soft roster split for AEW Dynamite and Collision,” according to the Fightful report from the second half of May. “This would allow talent that didn’t get along to work shows when necessary without the likelihood of conflict that we saw a lot of backstage in AEW in 2022.”

The report further stated that AEW talent were expecting a “hard brand split” at the time, with the exception of several champions.

“However, instead, we’re told that talent are expecting a hard brand split, with the exception of many AEW Champions. We’ve been told that there will be additional exceptions here and there. We have not learned how exactly the split will be determined, if there will be a draft, or how that will work out. However, the working plan as of this week is a firm brand split, with some rare exceptions.”

Tony Khan announces CM Punk for AEW Collision

The AEW President showed up with another one of his announcements on Dynamite this week. Khan didn’t waste any time as he went straight ahead for the big announcement. The 40-year-old said June 17 will mark the return of CM Punk to the company.

For those unaware, Punk last competed for AEW at All Out 2022, where he defeated Jon Moxley for the world title. Punk threw a fit during the post-show scrum. This led to the infamous backstage brawl with The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks).

The parties involved were stripped of their titles and suspended from programming. While Omega and the Bucks returned to the company at Full Gear 2022, Punk was nowhere to be seen or heard of through official company channels up until tonight.

It remains to be seen how his return will go down at the United Center a few weeks from now.

Are you excited for CM Punk’s return at AEW Collision? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!