CM Punk’s reign as AEW world champion has encountered an early snag.Â
Punk, 43, said on Friday night’s edition of Rampage that he has sustained an injury that would need surgery only five days after becoming champion. The AEW world title will not be relinquished by Punk, but an interim champion will be crowned in his absence.
Punk characterized his injuries as a “broken wheel.” He swore to return stronger, quicker, and hungrier than it has ever been.
Punk addressed the fans on Rampage while crying. He informed the audience that he had all good and terrible news for them.
“The terrible news is that I’ve been hurt and will need surgery.” Several things are broken. The most important is my heart, since I love nothing beyond performing for every one of you, and I intended to embark on a wild ride. “That’s the bad news,” stated Punk.
“The good news is that I can absolutely do all of those things. I promised you I’d ride till the wheels fell off. The wheels are still in place; they haven’t fallen off. It just so happens that one of them is broken. But I’ve been through worse. I’ve felt better than I do today, but I’m also here to tell you that I’ve felt a lot worse. This is just a hiccup on the way. It stings. It’s really painful. “I want to fight for you.”
In the championship match of Double or Nothing on Sunday, Punk defeated Adam “Hangman” Page to win the AEW world title. Punk was then injured on Dynamite on Wednesday. On the program, he worked with FTR to beat Max Caster, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn.
The interim AEW global champion will be crowned on Sunday, June 26 at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view co-promoted by AEW and NJPW.Â
AEW has confirmed that Dynamite would begin with a battle royal, with the victor progressing to fight Jon Moxley in the episode’s main event later that night. In the interim championship fight at Forbidden Door, the winner will encounter either Hiroshi Tanahashi or Hirooki Goto.
Tanahashi and Goto will square off at NJPW’s Dominion event on Sunday, June 12 to determine the other contender for the interim AEW world championship fight. Tanahashi was supposed to take on Punk during Forbidden Door.
Punk returned to pro wrestling seven years after leaving WWE when he joined AEW last August. This was his first world championship since 2013.
