Rumours: CM Punk & Daniel Bryan Signed To AEW?

I normally hate to share rumours and speculation as news, but this is gathering momentum among various credible and respected news sources. Apparently, CM Punk & Daniel Bryan- two of the biggest free agents in professional wrestling in 2021- have a new home- All Elite Wrestling.

Names such as Dave Meltzer and Sean Ross Sapp have reported that serious talks are ongoing between Punk & AEW brass. This is far from the first time Punk has been linked to AEW- an appearance by CM Punk at Starrcast, on the weekend of AEW's All Out event in Chicago, caused considerable buzz. Punk himself has made reference to receiving offers via text to join the Elite boys, which he considered unprofessional. It seems that someone has made a phone call or arranged a face to face meeting, as the rumours seem more persistent and closer to reality than ever. CM Punk has not wrestled since the 2014 Royal Rumble, but has hardly been out of the spotlight since, pursuing an ill-fated career in the UFC, and briefly becoming a FOX analyst on their show, WWE Backstage, before it was swiftly cancelled.

Daniel Bryan, in contrast to Punk, has been far more active far more recently in the wrestling world. In fact, he was in the WrestleMania 37 main event this year, taking part in the WWE Universal Championship match, in a Triple Threat with Edge and champion Roman Reigns. His final WWE appearance was a "Loser Leaves Smackdown" match against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship on the 30th of April. Adding fuel to the fire that Bryan has completely departed WWE- a report that states that Daniel Bryan is to be removed entirely from development of the WWE 2K22 video game. This is a telling move considering he was a WrestleMania main eventer this year and we are drawing close to the typical deadline of 2K's production on WWE games. The talks between Bryan and AEW appear to hinge around the possibility of also working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), with whom AEW has an ongoing working relationship.

Time will tell if these rumours come to pass. Crucially, while Meltzer's reports have been hit or miss for a long time despite his status in the pro wrestling industry, Sean Ross Sapp has been noted for being right about several key stories over the past year or so especially, indicating that his key sources have some validity.

Any updates will be posted here as soon as possible on The Arena!