Backstage News On CM Punk's Surprise AEW Return And Plans For All Out

It was closing in on 10 p.m. EST last night. The Jericho Appreciation Society and Blackpool Combat Club were going at it once more, when "Cult of Personality" started blaring through the speakers, marking the return of AEW World Champion CM Punk. Punk proceeded to clean house, including disposing of old WWE rival Chris Jericho, before having a long-awaited staredown with AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley, as well as bask in the cheers of the fans to close "AEW Dynamite: Quake By The Lake."

Punk of course hasn't been seen on AEW TV since the June 3 episode of "Rampage", when he announced he would be forced to take time off to recover from a foot injury. Punk would have successful surgery days later. He still appeared to be laboring from the injury when he appeared at AEW's panel for the San Diego Comic-Con in July, calling into question when exactly he'd be ready to go. In case that question wasn't answered by the closing moments of "Dynamite", a new report has you covered.

As reported by Fightful Select Thursday afternoon, the working plan for the main event at AEW's All Out pay-per-view is, in fact, CM Punk taking on Jon Moxley to determine the undisputed AEW World Champion. Fightful also confirmed this had been the hope among those in AEW since Punk went down, and that there had never been a consideration of bringing Punk back earlier, with the feeling being that AEW didn't want to put his recovery behind the eight ball.

Fightful also noted that there was a restricted area backstage during last night's "Quake By The Lake" show. While unconfirmed, this is believed to have been because of Punk's return. Sources also told Fightful that many staff and roster members were not clued into Punk's return, including several wrestlers who participated in the show-closing brawl that featured Punk's appearance. It was also said Punk kept the information quiet as well. In the end, all went according to plan, putting Moxley and Punk on a collision course for the first time since January 2014.