On the June 3 episode of AEW Rampage, CM Punk announced that he would be out of action as he would need to undergo surgery for a broken foot.
Punk won the AEW World Title less than a week before his announcement, defeating Hangman Page at AEW Double or Nothing. In his promo, he said that he offered to relinquish the AEW World Title, but Tony Khan declined his offer.
On the latest AEW Road To, Punk gave further elaboration on his comments.
"I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I offered to relinquish the title and Tony told me that under no circumstances was I allowed to do that. It means a lot to me that this place believes in me enough to let me go get fixed," he said.
Punk remains the AEW World Champion, but AEW will crown an Interim World Champion at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
The AEW representative in the bout will be determined on the June 8 episode of AEW Dynamite as the winner of a battle royale will face Jon Moxley. The winner of that bout will face the winner of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooko Goto, scheduled for NJPW Dominion, at Forbidden Door.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
