CM Punk Announces Injury As Interim AEW Title Could Fall Into MJF’s Lap

CM Punk shockingly, and tearfully, announced he was injured and needed surgery on AEW Rampage.

Just days after winning the AEW Championship, Punk will have to undergo surgery for a leg injury prior to his first title defense.

“The get-back will be better than the setback,” proclaimed an emotional Punk, whose timetable for a return is currently unknown.

CM Punk was previously set to face Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view later this month, but clearly those plans are off the table.

Shortly thereafter, AEW announced that there will be a Battle Royal to kick off AEW Dynamite this Wednesday, and the winner would take on Jon Moxley at AEW Forbidden Door for the right to become the interim AEW world champion.

Punk appeared to have suffered the injury while performing a celebratory stage dive during his first entrance as AEW world champion on AEW Dynamite. Punk went on to botch a springboard flying clothesline during the historic first-time broadcast from Inglewood, Calif., and he was seen visibly limping during an off-camera confrontation with MJF.

Earlier in the day, Punk noted he would have a major announcement for tonight’s live broadcast of AEW Rampage in Ontario, Calif.

“I’ll be on #AEWRampage live tonight with an important announcement in regards to the @aew world championship, and my career. Please tune in at 9pm CST/10pm EST,” read a tweet from CM Punk. Unfortunately, the worst-case-scenario came to fruition.

CM Punk name-dropped Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson as potential successors, but with MJF at the center of the wrestling world amid a line-blurring worked-shoot angle, he has to be considered a favorite to be next in line. MJF winning the AEW World Championship as a malcontent would be similar to CM Punk’s first WWE Championship win at Money in the Bank in 2011. Punk’s historic win was preceded by a milestone Pipebomb Promo, which he rode the biggest push of his career in WWE.

MJF drew comparisons to Punk with his own pipebomb promo Wednesday on Dynamite when he cut a scathing worked-shoot promo and begged AEW President Tony Khan to fire him. MJF’s segment marked the high-point of the show, but also may have seen a precipitous decline during the end of his promo.

In another uncanny parallel to Punk’s career—particularly in 2011—there’s an outside shot that MJF could become an interim champion, similar to John Cena who battled CM Punk to unify the WWE Championship at SumerSlam 2011.

With the AEW World Championship up in the balance, and MJF’s current storyline receiving a polarizing reaction, the championship could be the elixir to MJF and AEW’s current strife both on and off camera.