Matt Hardy comments on CM Punk's AEW return

Two-time AEW World Champion CM Punk is set to return to the Jacksonville-based promotion. Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy has now shared his thoughts on the matter.

The Second City Saint has been absent from All Elite Wrestling for over 200 days. His last match was at the All Out pay-per-view back in September of last year. He had wrestled and defeated Jon Moxley for the world championship.

This past Wednesday night on Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that the self-proclaimed Best in the World was set to make his return on June 17 during the debut episode of Collision.

WWE veteran Matt Hardy opened up about the announcement on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast. The former ECW Champion claimed that Punk returning is a big deal. He also was curious to see how the fans would receive him on June 17.

"CM Punk is a huge star, and him coming back is a big deal. It's going to be very interesting to see the kind of reaction he gets. When the Young Bucks were in Chicago, they were getting booed out of the building. It'll be interesting to see Punk's reaction, considering how smart the AEW fans are," Matt Hardy said. [H/T WrestlingInc]

Wrestling veteran Konnan believes CM Punk's first run in AEW was botched

When the Second City Saint first showed up in the Jacksonville-based promotion, he kicked off his return to in-ring action by wrestling young talents such as Darby Allin and Lee Moriarty.

According to WWE veteran Konnan, his initial run was floundered by AEW. On an episode of the Keepin' It 100 podcast, he claimed that Punk wrestled talents that were not established in the company. Thus it did not benefit either party.

"I hear it was Punk and not Tony that he [Punk] wanted to wrestle with these young talents. But he was wrestling with young talents that, number one, weren't over and, to this day, still aren't over. Lee Moriarty and all these other people that he was wrestling. In my mind it was like, you don't do what Punk wants, you do what the fans want. And that was a big mistake. They mishandled him coming back (...)," Konnan said.

The Straight Edge Savior was referenced on this past Friday's SmackDown. WWE acknowledged his world championship run while celebrating Roman Reigns surpassing 1000 days as the Universal Champion.

Who do you think should feud with Punk first? Let us know in the comments section below.