KENTA has been pushing for a match with CM Punk for years, but the two stars have always been in separate promotions until the last year and a half, as Punk is in AEW and KENTA is in NJPW, which has a working relationship with AEW.
Punk made his AEW return on Saturday’s Collision premiere, where he did a promo that included a jab at The Young Bucks. Punk also had a bag containing the AEW World Heavyweight Title, which he never lost due to an injury and the suspension resulting from the Brawl All. KENTA has stated in recent weeks that he does not want a match with Punk unless he is given the bag [money].
As previously stated, this was the intended direction for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, despite the fact that Punk “wasn’t thrilled with working with KENTA and he may come across badly in an interview,” a reference to Punk’s contentious interview with ESPN. It should be noted that Punk made no mention of KENTA in his article.
The two have a long history, as KENTA invented the GTS, which Punk began using when he joined WWE and has publicly credited KENTA for several times.
As seen below, KENTA stated that the match will never take place, though some speculate that it is just a swerve:
Kenta vs Punk is never going to happen.
— KENTA aka Lil’K (@KENTAG2S) June 18, 2023
