Steve Maclin Reveals TNA Plan For CM Punk Arrival That Never Happened

CM Punk's tenure with All Elite Wrestling was bumpy to say the least, and it would come to an official end the night of All In 2023.

Punk would step away from professional wrestling for a few short months before making his shocking return to WWE at the end of Survivor Series: WarGames that November.

Before Punk's time with AEW was fully over, there was a major bump in the road at All Out 2022 that saw Punk vacate the AEW World Championship, with him facing a lengthy suspension that ended up lasting nine months. Many people believed he was either fired or would be leaving the company during that time.

Plans for CM Punk to join TNA in 2022

Former TNA World Champion Steve Maclin spoke with Pro Wrestling Illustrated and revealed that there were plans for Punk to join TNA at some point. He states that the first match Punk would have had when he signed would have been against himself.

"If you want some behind-the-scenes dirt that nobody knows about, CM Punk almost possibly signed with TNA, (Punk) was coming in and I was going to be his first challenger, which I found out right as Scott D'Amore was let go. We were having dinner one night and he let me know, 'Yeah Punk was going to almost sign there and you were going to be his first challenger.'"
Steve Maclin, PWI

Maclin also spoke about times when Punk showed up for TNA events in Chicago, stating that Punk was very friendly and they chatted a bit. He said that Punk was always kind to him when he was an extra in WWE during Punk's original tenure there.

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How TNA could have been different with a star such as CM Punk

TNA finds itself in a great spot at the moment, as it is working very closely with WWE and is beginning a deal with AMC to give Impact a home on television. However, some of these things might have happened earlier if they had a star of Punk's magnitude.

Punk's return to professional wrestling gave AEW one of its most successful and talked-about periods ever, and it wouldn't be a surprise to say something similar could have happened for TNA, especially as they've struggled up until recently.

It would have been interesting to see Punk work with names such as Steve Maclin, Josh Alexander, the Motor City Machine Guns, and more, who were all filling up the main event scene in TNA at that time.

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