CM Punk holds talks for shock wrestling return with WWE rivals AEW but demands 'astronomical' money

WWE legend CM Punk has held talks with rivals AEW over a mega-money deal to join the organisation.

And despite reports that the 41-year-old is asking for "astronomical" figures, executive vice president and performer Cody Rhodes says Punk "is worth a great deal of money".

Punk is still signed to UFC, but he could be set for a return to the wrestling ring.

Former WWE star Konnan told the Keepin' It 100 podcast that the reason the deal hasn't been done yet is because Punk "was asking for an astronomical amount of money".

Now, in an interview with talkSPORT, Rhodes, who defends his TNT title against Sonny Kiss at Fight for the Fallen, admitted it could well be a costly deal.

The 35-year-old said: “As far as the CM Punk negotiations go, everyone heard the famous ‘he got a text from us’.

"Yeah, of course there were negotiations and he did ask for a great amount of money and Punk is worth a great deal of money.

“But you also have to – and this isn’t speaking to Punk specifically, this is speaking to recruitment and what we’ve learned in wrestling in general – a lot of people think ‘these wrestlers are running this wrestling company’.

“These wrestlers are doing everything they can to run the creative, the brand and the marketing and things, but there are some very smart and fiscally conservative people who surround us and flank us because this isn’t my money. At all.

"This is a business. And we have to turn a profit."

Punk left WWE in 2014 – but made a shock appearance in November after being hired to work on 'WWE Backstage' by Fox.

Punk, real name Phil Brooks, tried his luck in the Octagon after he left WWE following a bitter row with management.

The 41-year-old got off to a bad start when he lost his debut to Mickey Gall back in 2016.

And things went from bad to worse when he was battered by Mike Jackson at UFC 225.

Source: Read Full Article