All-Elite Wrestling appears to be removing CM Punk from the cover of AEW: Fight Forever following the wrestler’s recent suspension. Shortly after September’s AEW: All Out 2022 event, Punk spoke candidly about several of his fellow performers at a press conference, bringing up real backstage issues in the process. None of this was part of the script, and it led to a locker-room brawl between Punk and the wrestlers he berated, including Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson). Following this incident, all the wrestlers involved in the fight were temporarily taken off television, but while Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks have since returned to AEW programming, CM Punk has not. This has led to many reports that Punk could leave AEW entirely.
It seems that the ongoing real-life drama between CM Punk and AEW is now impacting the upcoming AEW: Fight Forever video game. According to VGC, Punk is being removed from Fight Forever’s cover art after having previously been prominently alongside fellow wrestlers like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Jade. A new trailer for AEW: Fight Forever was also posted to the PlayStation YouTube channel, with CM Punk being notably absent and what appears to be a new cover art image shown at the end.
AEW Fight Forever Seemingly Distances Itself From CM Punk
AEW announced its own AAA wrestling game to compete with the WWE 2K series in 2020, with former WWE developer Yuke’s lending its decades of experience in the virtual squared circle to the highly-anticipated project. Footage of this AEW game was slowly released in the almost two-year period since then, with AEW’s Kenny Omega and WWF No Mercy director Hideyuki "Geta" Washita promising a much simpler, arcade-style approach to contrast the more simulation-like feel of modern WWE titles. In May, the game was officially revealed as AEW: Fight Forever, and recent gameplay trailers have shown off the various minigames that will be included alongside the expected in-ring combat.
It hasn’t been confirmed if CM Punk is being removed from AEW: Fight Forever outright, but it’s possible if the rumors of AEW negotiating with him for a buyout of his contract are true. While AEW: Fight Forever was initially set to launch in September, the game has since been delayed until sometime next year - giving the developers plenty of time to remove Punk’s character model should the issues between him and the company remain unresolved. In the meantime, Yuke's and publisher THQ are focusing on promoting AEW: Fight Forever's simplified gameplay and character creation tools.
Given the recent bad blood between CM Punk and several of AEW’s most prominent superstars, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the previously-advertised star has seemingly been removed from AEW: Fight Forever’s cover. The ramifications of Punk’s backstage altercation are still being played out, and fans will have to wait to see if he will remain as part of AEW: Fight Forever’s in-game roster when the game finally launches next year.
Source: PlayStation/YouTube (via VGC)