AEW World Champion won't be returning to action anytime soon. It's unclear exactly how the 43-year-old injured his foot, but he needed surgery to fix the problem. Early indications were that Punk's injury was a bit worse than initially believed, but doctors managed to clean everything up during the procedure.
All Elite was sent into a bit of a tailspin by Punk's injury and all the other health issues that all hit the company simultaneously. AEW was starting to build towards its cross-branded pay-per-view with NJPW, and Punk was poised to be in the main event of that card. With him needing to step away from the ring, AEW and NJPW scrambled to put on a tournament to crown an interim World Champion. Jon Moxley won the company's top prize at Forbidden Door and remains champion.
A timeline was never given for Punk's return, and Tony Khan has been adamant about him taking as much time as he needs to recover. During a during the 2022 San Diego Comic Con, CM gave an update about his healing process, and the news wasn't particularly positive. Punk said that his foot had been "shattered" and that he was learning how to walk again. This is according to @MikeRoe on Twitter.
It feels like Punk has been gone for half a year, but it hasn't even been two months yet. Khan was asked about Punk's recovery during media availability following ROH Death Before Dishonor. He said he'd love to have him back for All Out in early September but couldn't make any promises. Given what Punk said in San Diego, that seems like the best way to move forward. Fans would love to have the Voice of the Voiceless back on television as soon as possible, but him taking the time he needs to recover fully is more important.
Bryan Danielson announced that he'd been cleared to wrestle and would be returning to action on Wednesday Night Dynamite, so at least some good news came from the Comic Con . The longer Punk remains on the sidelines, the more interesting Jon Moxley's title defenses will become. It seems likely that the long-term plan is to have Punk and Moxley unify the championships in the main event of a pay-per-view, but if the Second City Saint will miss more time than anticipated, AEW may need to call an audible to keep programming fresh.
Source: @MikeRoe/Twitter