CM Punk‘s status in AEW is one of the biggest questions surrounding the promotion during the summer of 2022.

On one hand, his injury wasn't bad enough to require him to outright relinquish his title. If he suffered a Santana-esque ACL injury that would cost him 8-16 months, then Jon Moxley's belt would be a permanent championship, and it may not even belong to the former Dean Ambrose at all, as few expect him to retain the title over Punk when he returns.

Then again, plenty of performers hold onto belts in the short-term when they are injured and are booked for speaking segments instead of in-ring action. Scorpio Sky suffered an injury the same week as Punk after winning his own title, and he didn't wrestle again for almost a month before he jobed out in a low-intensity street fight versus Wardlow. The same thing goes for Samoa Joe, though he is reportedly away from the promotion due to a commitment outside of wrestling, where he will be playing Sweet Tooth in the Peacock series Twisted Metal; AEW opted to Pillmanize his arm/shoulder in an attempt to write him off of television, though he has remained a fixture of Jay Lethal's promos, as he believes the Samoan Submission Machine is consciously avoiding him out of fear.

Putting Punk's belt on ice in favor of an interim alternative, though not without precedent in the promotion, is a sign that his injury return timeline is being measured in months, not weeks.

So what gives? Could the pre-planned Summer of Punk become more like the Thanksgiving/Christmas of Punk, or will fans have to wait until 2023 to see the “Best in the World” defend his moniker – and belt – in Tony Khan's promotion moving forward? Fortunately, Dave Meltzer swooped in and gave an encouraging update on his status that should make AEW fans fairly happy.

CM Punk may be back on AEW television in 2022 after all.

When discussing AEW on his Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer disclosed some details on CM Punk's return timeline as dictated/aggregated by the fine folks over at WrestlePurists.

“(CM) Punk should not be long before he returns, I mean not this month, probably not August, but perhaps All Out, perhaps Full Gear, I think it’ll be one of those shows when he’s back.”

Alright, that's actually pretty encouraging.

Though it feels like it was only yesterday when Punk took to the ring on Rampage to announce that he'd be out of action for the foreseeable future and would need to step away from the promotion to get his body right, Punk actually had surgery on his leg roughly six weeks ago, with roughly six weeks to go until All Out‘s scheduled running on the first weekend in September. While 12 weeks might be a quick recovery period for a surgically repaired leg if Punk had to wrestle, there's no reason he couldn't hit the entrance ramp moments after a “Cult of Personality” needle drop while the 10,000 or so fans assembled in Chicago collectively lose their minds. Punk could point to Moxley's title after he defeats whatever big baddy Tony Khan lines up for his first Pay-Per-View title defense, and the next three-ish months could build towards a match at Full Gear, where “Hangman” Adam Page beat Kenny Omega for the belt at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota back in 2021.

Granted, that idea only works if Punk will be ready for in-ring work by November/December. If he isn't going to be ready until 2023, TK may opt to kick Punk's return back until Full Gear and could then follow the same trajectory back to the ring, but with All Out booked for Chicago, it's hard to imagine AEW letting an opportunity to get a massive Punk pop in Chicago pass them by, I mean, we're talking about the man who sold out the United Center for a random episode of Rampage just so fans could hear him speak; even if it's just a wave, some commentary on the Championship match, and then a speech into the mic once the Pay-Per-View goes off the air, the prospects of holding the “Second City Saint” off of a huge show in his hometown feels rather unlikely.

No matter when he returns, CM Punk's re-debut will be one of the defining storylines of the second era of AEW. If done right, the angle could be white hot and elevate the promotion's reach to new heights. And if not? Well, CM Punk will still be back, and that will be enough to get pops out of the fans who already tune in religiously on Wednesday and Friday nights to see their favorite performers in the ring. Sounds to me like a win-win either way.