Former All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Champion CM Punk is reportedly still in AEW: Fight Forever despite speculation that he would be removed from the game. Punk was once featured on the AEW: Fight Forever box art, but was seemingly removed following his suspension.
Back in September, Punk was involved in a backstage brawl that happened after AEW's All Out pay-per-view. According to numerous reports, the fight broke out after Punk's heated rant during the press scrum, where he called out fellow wrestlers Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). Everyone involved in the fight, including those who tried to break it up, were suspended while AEW conducted an internal investigation. As of writing, Omega and the Jacksons have returned to AEW programming, while Punk is rumored to be out of the company.
Following the incident, there was speculation on whether Punk would still appear in AEW: Fight Forever, especially after AEW revealed a different cover. But according to a Sportskeeda report, AEW did not remove Punk from the game. A representative said that they would have made a public announcement if a wrestler needed to be removed from the game. They added that "all characters revealed" will be part of it, including Punk.
The AEW representative also addressed the game's cover art that had Punk on it. They said that it was a placeholder they used for a long time, but it wasn't the official one. The AEW: Fight Forever cover, which was shown in the trailer, features stars like Omega, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Bryan Danielson.
Wrestling fans had mixed reactions on the news. On one end, people seemed to be excited about playing Punk in AEW: Fight Forever. While others joked that they would beat up Punk and lower his rating in their gameplay. Some were unsurprised by this move considering that AEW: Fight Forever will still feature Cody Rhodes, who is now signed with WWE. They also theorized that developer Yuke's probably didn't have time to remove content involving Punk before the game's 2023 release.
It's true that Punk has had a controversial run in both WWE and AEW, but there are still people who admire him. So, it's not surprising to see some fans interested in seeing him in AEW: Fight Forever. They're probably looking forward to playing him in various stipulation matches, including AEW: Fight Forever's brutally hardcore Lights Out match.
AEW: Fight Forever releases in 2023 on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Sportskeeda