I know they wanted to have Punk at the start of AEW but he wasn't sold on if it would succeed or not.
Plus to me there's always been a scorpion-and-the-frog thing about this whole ordeal, how are the Elite surprised that the guy famous for being a grumpy asshole turned out to be just that?
Funny thing, is Punk even admitted in that interview that dropped right before Collision that he knew he got hurt again in the match and that was what was fueling the fire at the press conference. It's some Butterfly Effect shit that if he doesn't tear his tricep then probably none of this ever happens.