There are a lot of things surrounding the premiere episode of AEW Collision that could be up in the air now that the promotion is not on the same page as CM Punk, but they do at least have a backup plan in place should the former AEW World Heavyweight Champion not be on the launch edition of the new Saturday night program that will air every week on TNT.

The two sides are not on the same page after Punk was upset about Ace Steel not working physically at the TV tapings and would have had to work remotely. Punk found this out on Tuesday, leading to him becoming upset. The decision was made to pull him from the promotional material for Collision when the show was officially announced.

Punk is still on “sound footing” with AEW President Tony Khan with no issues between them, and they’ve kept communication open as they try to figure out how to move past this hurdle.

The idea is to build Collision around Punk and save his return to the promotion for the June 17 edition in Chicago.

Pwinsider reports that AEW is prepared to change up their plans should Punk not be expected for the launch.

“If the company and CM Punk get everything back on track, that’s still the plan. If not, they will look to have the first episode elsewhere,” the report noted.

AEW has three weeks to fill a venue for the show. It was speculated that if Punk isn’t going to be there, then they could go to Jacksonville, Florida, at Daily’s Place, as it would be a location they could book on short notice.

AEW hasn’t held a show in Daily’s Place for a while after being there for the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dave Meltzer confirmed Daily's Place is the backup location.