Over the weekend, Andrew Zarian provided an update on AEW’s plans for a Saturday show – one that would premiere in June and feature a returning CM Punk as part of a brand split to sidestep tensions between Punk and other members of the roster such as The Elite & Jon Moxley.
This update came on his own Mat Men podcast. Zarian then made a guest appearance on Wrestling Observer Live on Sunday (April 16) providing not only more details on Punk’s return, the Saturday show and the brand split, but also the latest action plans for our latest Summer of Punk.
First off, everyone involved is confident enough that punk’s return is a done deal that Tony Khan’s partners at Warner Bros Discover have been notified:
“I know for a fact that Warner was told he was coming back. You are very aware of the situation. He recently said he was ready to return to AEW and wanted to make it work.”
The previously reported meeting planned between Khan, Punk, FTR and Chris Jericho was discussed on WOL. However, it seems that there could be more to it than just cleaning the air. Zarian’s sources tell him that Punk will be working with Jericho upon his return, and he explained why that would send the right message to the list:
“I’ve heard this from several people and it’s been suggested to me that the program will probably be punk and Jericho in some way. I don’t know if the FTR or the Jericho Corporation is involved, but you know what? This is a very clever way of doing this. Jericho has presented himself as the leader of the dressing rooms, Jericho came out and said he was toxic or whatever he said and he’s willing to make this work because he realizes there’s money in it.
As for the other big money feud started by FTR’s Dax Harwood? We shouldn’t hold our breath at Zarian’s hearing:
“Well, the problem here is that [Punk]is ready to work with The Elite members as I know when I was told and earlier this week there was no intent on the other side maybe Kenny a little bit more than the Bucks but I know they are doing it don’t want to work with him. There was also no dialogue between the two sides about sitting down and making this work.”
Because of this, the Wednesday/Saturday roster split may be more set in stone than Zarian initially believed:
“Plans have been put in place to possibly host an interim Saturday show to be the ‘soft’ brand split. When I used that term on Mat Men yesterday, I was told it’s not as soft as I’m putting it. I think there will be people who are mostly on the other show, the Saturday show.”
Interested in Punk & Jericho revisiting their 2012 WWE feud? Do you think AEW has a roster deep enough to support a split roster?
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