Speculation On CM Punk's Purported Employee Contract With AEW

It was announced this past weekend that CM Punk was no longer a part of AEW. Tony Khan, AEW's CEO, opted to fire Punk for cause following his backstage altercation with Jack Perry at the All In at Wembley Stadium event on August 27. In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer said that Punk was supposedly working under two contracts with AEW, one as a performer and one as an employee.

It is thought that the two contracts "covered full insurance" for Khan's promotion, according to Meltzer. However, nobody has officially confirmed that Punk was working under two agreements with AEW or explained what his alleged employee deal entailed. Meltzer did note that Punk was working with Khan on "creative facets" of the Saturday night "AEW Collision" show.

It's still unknown if Punk had a non-compete clause in his deal. Meltzer recently pointed out that WWE contracts have a one-year non-compete clause if a wrestler is fired for cause. However, he's under the assumption that Punk is a free agent moving forward. Meltzer also wrote in the latest edition of WON that he wouldn't rule out AEW giving Punk another chance as the former AEW World Champion has proved to be a "very big" signing for the promotion.