News broke recently that AEW has added injury time to a fan-favorite's contract, retaining his services for a while longer. The star in question, Danhausen, has been absent from the company's programming for over a year, however.The aforementioned report also claimed that the face-painted star was interested in parting ways with All Elite Wrestling. While no one knows exactly why Tony Khan is keeping Danhausen around even though he wants to leave, some have speculated that the move may have something to do with a former All Elite talent who is close friends with the former Kid Gorgeous - the latter being none other than CM Punk.CM Punk's AEW exit and Danhausen's hiatusThe self-proclaimed "Best in the World" was terminated by All Elite Wrestling after his scuffle with Jack Perry during All In: London 2023. The incident took place less than a year after CM Punk's infamous media scrum rant and backstage brawl with The Elite after All Out 2022. Despite his arrival being one of the promotion's biggest moments, the Chicago-native's streak of controversy and conflict led to what appeared to be a less-than-ideal departure in 2023.Soon after, Punk returned to his old stomping grounds in WWE. Danhausen, on the other hand, who debuted in AEW in 2022, suffered a torn pec at Revolution 2023, which kept him out of action until November of that year. He competed in a TNT Championship contenders' Battle Royal during the Zero Hour pre-show at Worlds End, but was unable to win. This happens to be the beloved star's last match inside an All Elite Wrestling ring to date, despite being signed with the company all this time.Danhausen's friendship with CM PunkWrestling fans are well aware by now of the close relationship that Danhausen shares with CM Punk. The two men consistently interact with each other on social media, at events, and in vlogs, sharing witty banter and humor. Just a few days ago, for instance, on the latest episode of his vlog, Danhausen showed footage of giving The Voice of the Voiceless a hilarious gift in his hotel room during SummerSlam 2025 weekend.CM Punk and Danhausen [Image Credits: Danhausen's YouTube vlog]Considering their friendship, it can be assumed that Punk might push for WWE to sign the "Very Nice, Very Evil" star once his AEW contract properly expires next year. Reports from this past July indicated that the sports entertainment juggernaut was "very interested" in acquiring Danhausen. It would not be far-fetched to speculate that a top name of Punk's stature could likely make his peer's arrival in the Stamford-based company a very real possibility.Tony Khan may not want Danhausen and CM Punk to take shots at AEW on WWE TVCM Punk has taken numerous digs at AEW since he returned to WWE at Survivor Series 2023. These include references to his comments aimed at The Elite during his All Out 2022 press scrum tirade, where he called himself a "choke artist" to allude to his altercation with Jack Perry, and even took shots at the Tony Khan-led promotion's periodic struggles with low ticket sales and live attendance.Punk and Danhausen are known to have excellent chemistry together. If the latter left AEW to join WWE, he might have taken up the opportunity to rib All Elite Wrestling along with The Straight Edge Superstar on the Triple H-led company's programming. Considering how long he has been kept out of action, he arguably might have understandable reasons for doing so.While all this is just speculation, Tony Khan might have decided against letting Danhausen's contract expire and tacked on injury time to his deal so that he could not jump ship and voice his grievances against his former workplace, both in subtle and direct ways. However, whether TK will actually utilize Danhausen now remains to be seen.