AEW news: CM Punk's injury has sidelined him -  Jim Ross

The first reign of CM Punk as AEW World Champion hasn’t started off as well as most would have hoped. Punk won the AEW World Championship by defeating ‘Hangman’ Adam Page at “Double or Nothing.” Punk, however, declared on “Rampage” only five days later that he required surgery and would be away for a long time. Jim Ross, a WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW commentator, addressed Punk’s injuries on his podcast “Grilling JR.”

Jim Ross said, “It is very unfortunate. If anybody can work their way through it, it’ll be Phil Brooks, AKA CM Punk, no doubt. So I don’t have any qualms or any hesitation regarding, you know, how CM Punk’s going to return. He’ll return healthy, fired up, and motivated.” Punk recently competed on Wednesday, the day after winning the AEW World Title, at “Double or Nothing,” teaming up with Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions FTR, who, like Punk, are huge Bret Hart fans, to take on the Gunn Club’s Austin and Colten and the Acclaimed’s Max Caster. The victory went to Punk and FTR. Having followed the bout, Punk screamed out at his “Forbidden Door” opponent, which was acknowledged by Hiroshi Tanahashi, the eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

READ MORE: Forbidden Door Opponent of Jon Moxley has been unveiled

CM Punk out due to injury

Due to his injuries, Punk will not be able to wrestle the ‘Ace’ of NJPW. Punk will not relinquish the AEW World Championship despite his injury. Instead, a temporary champion will be crowned by the corporation. On Wednesday’s episode of “AEW: Dynamite,” Kyle O’Reilly won a Casino Battle Royal to determine who would meet number one rated Jon Moxley in the main event. Moxley defeated O’Reilly and will fight the winner of Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW World Championship at “Forbidden Door,” a dual AEW and NJPW Pay-Per-View. The bout between Goto and Tanahashi will take place on Sunday, June 12th, as part of NJPW’s annual “Dominion” Pay-Per-View event.