Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat confirms that CM Punk helped him rejoin AEW

CM Punk joined AEW in 2021 and had a pretty decent run with the company with two AEW World Championship reigns. He had a long hiatus on a couple of occasions for a medical reason and a suspension. However after a backstage confrontation with Jack Perry at AEW All In, Punk got released from the company.

Although Punk has a very short reign with AEW, he has been an influential person of the company. To strengthen the statement, The WWE Hall of Famer, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat commented that Punk was the one who requested AEW to rejoin him at AEW Collision.

Ricky Steamboat on how CM Punk helped him

In a recent Interview with Bill Apter of Sportskeeda Wrestling, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat revealed that Tony Schiavone contacted him and asked to join them at AEW Collision, by the request of CM Punk.

Ricky steamboat says,

“Tony Schiavone got a hold of me, through the request of CM Punk. And, you know, they had told me the storyline – the last time CM Punk and Ricky Starks met, that Ricky needed to get the win, cheated holding on to the ropes. So, they were thinking about maybe another referee on the floor, another pair of eyes. And make the match for the Heavyweight Championship of the world.” [h/t Sportskeeda Wrestling]

He continued stating how his AEW appearance was made,

“On Friday, I was doing a Comic Con convention in Charlotte. And, after I was done with that Friday night, I drove up to Roanoke and I was doing another Comic Con convention there and, of course, AEW’s show live was Saturday evening. So, the company through Tony Khan, he asks, ‘I’d like to pick you up in Roanoke in our private jet and fly you down to Greenville where we’re doing the television taping. About a 35-minute flight. You’d do the match with CM Punk and Ricky Starks and then we will get you back on my plane, Tony Said”

Punk and Steamboat have a long history together since his time in Ring of Honor, which might be one of the main reasons why Punk requested to rejoin him in AEW.