CM Punk Implies He's Still AEW World Champion In Return Promo On Collision Debut

The premiere episode of "AEW Collision" on June 17 kicked off with the return of CM Punk.

Punk received a thunderous reaction upon his appearance in front of the sold-out United Center crowd in Chicago. With his boots draped around his neck by the shoe strings, Punk also had a mysterious red bad in hand. To start, he made it known that he doesn't care whether fans love or hate him, cheer or boo him. He's been called many things throughout his career, however he feels like he's in a business full of "counterfeit bucks."

Punk then lifted up the red bag and didn't physically reveal what was in it. Rather, he explained how the bag contained what he never lost — the AEW World Championship. Punk discussed how he earned it after beating MJF in a Dog Collar match prior to winning the title off of "Hangman" Adam Page and later Jon Moxley. To cap off his promo on how he earned the company's top prize, Punk stated, "Tell me if I'm telling lies."

Considering his comments, it appears that the former two-time AEW World Champion could soon be targeting MJF once again. Their feud initially ended when Punk won the Dog Collar match at AEW Revolution 2022, however there were plans for it to resume after All Out. As it played out, MJF returned to storylines by winning the Casino Ladder match on the same night that Punk tore his tricep in the process of winning his second AEW World title. MJF has held the title since Full Gear in November while Punk recovered.