One of the highest paid stars in AEW is CM Punk. The former WWE Champion signed a deal with the company in 2021, making his debut at the second ever episode of AEW Rampage.
CM Punk has not been seen in AEW since All Out 2022. In the post-show press conference, he tore down The Elite and Colt Cabana, leading to a fight and eventual suspension for all involved.
Before that, he defeated Jon Moxley for the AEW Championship, winning the belt for the second time. He is one of the most decorated men in AEW history, and only lost two matches in his year in the company – to MJF and Jon Moxley.
But how much does CM Punk make in AEW? We look at his AEW salary and how it compares to other top stars in the company.
How Much Does CM Punk Make?
CM Punk makes $3 million per year wrestling for AEW, according to reports. This would put him as one of the top earners in AEW, Chris Jericho also reported to be making the same amount($3 million a year each). However, they come up short behind Jon Moxley, who earns an eye watering $6 million a year salary.
He was handed a bumper salary as soon as CM Punk debuted in AEW. Punk had been away from pro-wrestling since 2014, walking out on the WWE after the 2014 Royal Rumble event.
He was later fired by the WWE on his wedding day, although he had no intention of continuing to work for the company beyond that fateful Royal Rumble.
CM Punk repaid Tony Khan for his salary by bringing huge amounts of new fans to the product. His AEW Rampage debut is still the highest-ever rated episode of the show, with 1.4 million people tuning in to see his return to wrestling.
Pay per view buys also skyrocketed with CM Punk at the helm. Since his debut, each show had a record buy and Punk was the biggest star advertised for the matches. He was a huge part of every episode of AEW Dynamite, and a two-time AEW Champion to boot.
Both his title reigns ended in injury. He was injured a week after winning the belt from Adam Page, and then again during his victory over Jon Moxley at All Out 2022.
When he returns from injury (as long as he can hash things out with The Elite), then he will undoubtably be slotted back into the main event scene, and chase MJF for his record-tying third AEW Championship win.
CM Punk’s salary is still one of the biggest in AEW, so releasing him would not be easy, if that is how Tony Khan wants to play things. He is known to be a big fan of the former WWE Champion, so it’s likely he’d rather sort the issues out than release his second-highest paid star.