Key AEW Personnel "Shocked" by Ace Steel's Secret Rehiring

CM Punk's return was all set to be confirmed during the Warner Bros Discovery upfront a couple days ago. That was until the whole thing went off the rails. What was supposed to be a triumphant day for AEW turned into a controversial affair very quickly. There is one man who is said to have been behind this calamity - Ace Steel.

Steel who has been closely associated with Punk during his AEW run was also involved in the All Out incident. At one point he had been released from his contract by the promotion and it seemed he was done with the company.

But after the latest turn of events, it was revealed Steel had been re-hired by Tony Khan. The story that has come out since then is that even many in AEW weren't aware of this change. In a surprising turn of events, it has been revealed that key AEW personnel were "shocked" by the secret rehiring of Ace Steel.

Dave Meltzer commented on the situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He referred to Nick Hausman's report that Steel had been rehired months ago and stated that when key talent within AEW found out about Steel's return, they were surprised:

"Nick Hausman reported that Steel was actually rehired months ago. We had that denied to us when asking several weeks back, but based on what we were told by others weeks ago when the name first started surfacing, the claim had been he was hired a few weeks before that, so about six or seven weeks ago would fit that time table.

But at the time those close to him said that it was a closely kept secret and he would actually return at the first Collision show. Even top people in AEW at the time were unaware of this and most still didn’t know until this week. When key talent found out about two weeks ago, they were shocked."

The revelation of Steel's rehiring reportedly led to miscommunication between lawyers, resulting in Punk's removal from Collision promotional material. It was a significant enough development that WBD, the network behind TNT and TBS, released a statement clarifying that Punk is not affiliated with Collision.

Meltzer also mentioned that there was a feeling within WBD that they should not have released the statement and instead let the situation play out.

This disagreement between Punk and AEW regarding Steel's role behind the scenes has created a new rift. Punk seemingly believed Steel will be working with him in person while Tony Khan only wants to allow him to work remotely.

AEW only has three weeks before the debut of Collision. The officials would ideally want to come to a resolution with the Straight Edge Star before that. If not, the company will have to find a new venue outside of Chicago.