Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez has backed up Cody Rhodes's claims regarding CM Punk and a meeting held with AEW.
Punk, who returned to WWE television this week, showing up on WWE Backstage following an audition several weeks ago, isn't technically employed by WWE as the show is FOX Network's. But the door appears to be closed on a move to Tony Khan's promotion.
The former WWE superstar had accused the new company of sending an offer to him via text, with Cody firing back with a statement claiming there was also a personal meeting. And according to Alvarez, Punk met with Khan and was offered a huge contract to sign with AEW but he's decided to take FOX's money instead.
“What I can tell you about negotiations with Punk is that Punk did, in fact negotiate with AEW," Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live. "I know that Punk’s story - I don’t even know what his story is now. I know the story that he gave was that they sent me some texts and it was this, it was that.
“CM Punk met in person with Tony Khan about AEW and they offered him lots of money and he ended up doing this WWE on Fox gig.
“Now, what does that mean? I don’t know. It could mean that CM Punk doesn’t have any interest in actually wrestling. It could be that CM Punk wants to continue doing what he’s doing in his life and he’s over the in-ring aspect of it. He was given a great deal to not even work every week. They made it abundantly clear that he is not a host of this show. He is a special contributor. He will be making appearances on a regular basis. He’s not even going to be there every week.
“It could be that Fox has got a lot of money. It could be that Fox offered him an ungodly amount of money to occasionally show up as a contributor for a show on FS1 and he took the money and that’s what he’s doing. It could be that CM Punk does, in fact, want to wrestle and he knows with WWE’s new television deals that they’re going to offer him a ridiculous amount of money to wrestle.”
Why Not AEW?
Punk's return to WWE TV has brought an end to a rumor-filled few years but we're not sure why he chose FOX over AEW.
It's been noted that WWE pays very lavish sums for Saudi Arabia shows and that's probably incentive to remain affiliated as one trip to the Middle East could net him a lot of money.
More realistically, Punk is probably just looking to remain out of the ring for now, which would make WWE Backstage the perfect place for him.
Source: Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Ringside News)