-- CM Punk's return to WWE has gone as well as anyone could hoped for with his presence backstage being met with consensus positive feedback. It appears that his return to WWE has also helped on the business side, with Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com reporting that it has "opened doors" for WWE parent company Endeavor's ongoing negotiations for the TV rights fees for Raw, specifically with Warner Bros. Discovery discussions back on the table.
-- The report added Mark Shapiro, Nick Khan and Paul Levesque met with WBD on Monday morning and that Punk was a "major part of the pitch" with the idea being that he would be a regular character on Monday Night Raw, should WBD be serious again about pursuing WWE's flagship show as part of their lineup starting in the fall of 2024. The situation is now "back wide open" and obviously affects AEW which has been having their discussions with WBD on multiple deals, including TV rights and streaming. There are even rumors that WBD has some sort of a stake within AEW, though neither party has confirmed but nor have they outright denied it either. It remains unclear though whether WBD would want to be intimately involved in two different wrestling promotions though it's worth noting that WWE's new ownership structure largely precludes Vince McMahon, who in the past demanded exclusivity with all his partners.
-- Meanwhile, AEW head Tony Khan has spoken of his loyalty to WBD numerous times, going so far as to say that he would keep his AEW programming on WBD even if another media company offered him slightly more money. Khan also noted that while he could shop ROH to any television partner, he would only offer it to WBD stations, but the interest was not mutual.
-- There are many dynamics at play all dependent on where Raw ultimately ends up, including but not limited to the days of the week where WWE and AEW programming end up. With the USA Network paying a significant premium for Smackdown, most believe that show will be moved off Fridays. From AEW's perspective, it would not be in their best interest to run any of their shows opposite Raw or Smackdown.
