A.J. Styles, the current WWE heavyweight champion, hasn’t encountered CM Punk for several years since the latter left the organization to pursue a career with the UFC. The two faced off several times in Ring of Honor, TNA and IWA-Mid South between 2002 and 2004.
Given that Punk’s departure from the WWE was contentious, the possibility of a return to the fold seems unlikely, even though fans yearn for a confrontation between Styles and Punk. Styles, however, is holding out hope, especially since he believes that money will be the deciding factor in whether Punk returns to wrestling or not.
“Money talks but there’s some issues there that I don’t know enough about. A lot of guys [ have had issues] and like I said money talks,” Styles said during an appearance on Loper and Randi In the Morning. “But some guys have bigger issues than others. Who knows?”
One of the “bigger issues” is referring to is WWE doctor Chris Amann’s lawsuit against Punk. Amman feels maligned by the comments made by Punk on The Art of Wrestling podcast in 2014 about mistreatment by the physician while he was with the WWE. The lawsuit is expected to go to trial soon and the outcome may determine Punk’s future with the WWE.
Also named in the lawsuit is Colt Cabana, who has stated, "The update is that it's still going on, it's costing me a lot of money, and that's the extent that my lawyers will allow me to talk. So nothing breaking here, but just do know that it's always on my mind, it's always a very sad thing. And I've talked to other podcasters... it's kind of changed the way that he's worked and realizing that this is a reality that you can host a show and get sued for it."