CM PUNK was talking to Will Hobbs backstage at an AEW show. The two were going to play a match at a sold-out stadium in New York.
A few hours after their conversation, the building that hosts the tennis US Open would be filled with 20,177 people, the largest crowd yet for the upstart AEW promotion, which has been billed as an alternative to powerhouse WWE.
The nerves were visible across his frame. He had never performed in front of so many fans. When there were no fans in attendance, the match was only Punk's second match since returning to pro wrestling after seven years.
Punk, one of the biggest wrestling stars of the last two decades, opened their discussion about how the match would be laid out with something surprising. The match would be in honor of the mother of Punk, who died a month before.
He told them not to worry about anyone else. That made me feel more comfortable with him in the ring. He knew what that night meant for me.
Fans and critics gave Punk a good review for his win over Hobbs last September. It was at the beginning of Punk's return after a messy falling out with the World Wrestling Entertainment. For Punk, it was a perfect representation of why he had returned to the ring, and what he believed the industry should be all about.
On Sunday, CM Punk will challenge for the AEW World Championship for the first time against current titleholder Adam Page in the main event of the Double or Nothing pay-per-view card in Las Vegas. The business of television ratings, pay-per-view buys and ticket sales has been the focus of the buzz about Punk's first nine months in AEW.
Punk's return has always been about giving back to the younger talent, sharing his vision of what pro wrestling should be and helping grow AEW from a team perspective. Punk said he felt like his nine years in WWE were wasted with too much time walking on hot coals and worried about which veteran he would upset. His mission is not to win a championship or sell out arenas as much as it is to make up for lost time.
Punk said that it was about buyrates and million-dollar gates. What is the best part? The best part is making these new relationships and showing guys what a lot of guys never showed me but should have: to not be disrespectful to these kids who just want to be pro wrestlers.
The wrestler was asked to be the first match for CM Punk since January. Tony Khan told him that in a late-night phone call. Sting and Allin were in the rafters of the United Center when Punk came back last August.
Allin was in the bowels of NOW Arena in Illinois, getting ready to face Punk in his first wrestling match in 92 months. Allin, a 29-year-old wrestler with punk-rock tendencies, made his wrestling debut in the year Punk left the company. Sting, a 63-year-old legend in the industry, was in Allin's locker room when he talked about feeling the magnitude of the emotional moment.
Allin said that Sting knew that he was nervous. I told him that this day is more than just wrestling Punk. It is validation for everything I have worked for. I started to think of all the little moments in my life. This is a trip.
The magnitude of Punk coming to AEW, a promotion with a young roster of wrestlers, many of whom grew up watching and idolizing Punk, is underscored by Allin's experience. Punk has spread a drug-free message throughout his career and Allin does not consume any drugs or alcohol. When he became a fan of Punk, a 27-year-old AEW prospect, Lee Moriarty, said he didn't know what being straight edge was, but now he follows those principles.
After seven years, CM Punk makes his return to professional wrestling and gets huge cheers from the crowd.
Punk was a five-time WWE world champion. He held the title for over 400 days, the sixth-longest reign in the history of the title. Punk became one of the biggest stars in wrestling on the back of his authenticity. He looked like a normal person. He earned the nickname "The Voice of the Voiceless" for speaking truth to power because he was so personable. Punk had a lot of great matches with people like The Rock and John Cena.
Things ended badly. Punk walked out on the company in January of last year. On the day of his wedding to another wrestler, the company terminated his contract. In late 2014, Punk talked about his time with the company on a show, blaming them for his health issues and running him ragged. Punk won a defamation case against Amman.
During his time away from the company, Punk cut ties with many people, including his former friends. He started training in MMA, was signed by the UFC, and has acted in movies and on television. He said in interviews that he would never wrestle again. Khan, the son of a billionaire Jacksonville Jaguars owner and a lifelong wrestling fan, launched AEW in 2019. Punk signed with AEW in the summer of 2021.
When Punk signed with AEW, Dax Harwood, part of one of the top tag teams with Cash Wheeler as FTR, said he was "apprehensive" at first. Punk was enemies with Harwood and Wheeler. Punk had a reputation for being difficult to work with. Harwood wasn't sure how that would mix with the locker room.
Harwood said he heard all the stories about him.
Harwood and Wheeler shared a similar reverence for the legendary wrestler, and they ended up hitting it off with Punk. While on the WWE roster with Punk, he said he didn't begin forming a close relationship with him until they were both in AEW. Over the last nine months, Punk has been a mentor to the younger wrestlers for Rhodes, who is a wrestler and coach for AEW. Many of the ill feelings toward Punk from other wrestlers in the industry are due to jealousy, and the negative perception about him backstage are not true, according to Rhodes.
Rhodes said that he is always coaching up the talents when they come back or on their promo. You have to take advantage of that. He is very accessible in that way.
On Monday through Friday, host Pablo Torre brings you an inside look at the most interesting stories at ESPN, as told by the top reporters and Insiders on the planet. Listen.
Punk has pulled him into his locker room to watch one of his matches to offer guidance, but he can't remember the number of times. Max Caster, a rising AEW star, said that he has come to Punk for business advice for non-wrestling ventures. Caster said Punk made him feel included in the locker room, from stealing his jacket and posting a photo of it on the internet to greeting him after a two-month suspension for reciting a controversial rap on TV.
Caster thought that everyone hated him when he came back from suspension. He was educated on who was on the roster from top to bottom.
I was worried that CM Punk was here. He is a hero to me. For him to say hello is huge.
Punk wants to do the same thing as Eddie and Tracy Smothers did for him, mentor the younger wrestlers in AEW. He is doing it because he worked with other older wrestlers who did not do it.
Punk said that he wishes he could have talked to people like a normal person and picked their brain. I want to show them that I am open book. I am here. I walk around all day. Whatever you need, I am here for you. It is a full-time job. It was literally. I love it.
He LANDED in Austin, Texas, and went to Starbucks with his bags. The promotion's television program ran in Garland.
CM Punk pushed his way through the doors of the coffee shop, which came as no surprise to Harwood since they are both Starbucks fans. Harwood said he did not know.
Punk said that he and Harwood were going to wrestle. I will be damned, but an hour or two later he sends me a text saying that the show is going to start.
In December of last year, Harwood, Wheeler, and their stablemate MJF had a six-man tag team match against Punk, Allin, and Sting. Punk, Sting, and Allin let Harwood and Wheeler call the match in the ring on the fly, the first time Punk said he has been comfortable enough to allow other wrestlers to do that in one of his matches in more than a decade.
Harwood said that he was trusted to lead the match because he knew that sometimes guys will try to take advantage of you in the ring and just get their s--- in. I am not that kind of guy. I do not have the ability to get in. I care about the story and the match. I want to know how well both of us did in that match. I am forever grateful for the trust he had in me to lead that match.
On February 9, Punk and Jon Moxley faced Harwood and Wheeler in a tag match. The Punk vs Harwood match in March was the most perfect match I have ever had.
Punk said of Harwood and Wheeler that they are f---ing artists. I am aware of that. We are operating on a different level and it is ok to not understand it. We get it and I appreciate the work done by both of those guys.
The two people appreciated each other. One of Harwood's favorite matches was Punk against John Cena on Monday Night Raw. Harwood told Punk that and the two got together to watch the match at Punk's hotel room. Harwood said the storytelling and pacing of that match blew him away. The two have a deep admiration for Hart and his work inside the ring. Punk and Harwood text Hart about wrestling.
Harwood said that he would send a picture of Punk to him because he would be jealous. I need to learn more about hockey because I get jealous.
The Punk matches were for Harwood and Wheeler, who are now on the hottest run of their careers. Punk said he finally felt like he found his legs for the first time during those matches, which led to a pair of epic battles with MJF, including a bloody dog collar match at the Revolution pay-per-view event in March.
After he was booked to win the match against MJF, there was only one thing for Punk to do: go for the title against Page and further establish himself as the face of AEW. Even if it isn't what Punk the man set out to do, that was the evolution of Punk's character in AEW. He said he has been able to figure out both things with an eye toward further growth for the promotion.
Punk said that he doesn't call shots. I don't book anything. I make towns. I have a lot of experience that I can draw from. I have a lot of positive and negative experiences that I can draw from. I am not trying to hold people back. I am trying to make this place better.
Everyone who has been in the ring with Punk so far has been better off for it, Khan said, and he doesn't think Punk helps anyone in AEW.
Khan said he was amazed by CM Punk, who helped grow the business when he arrived. He helped put a spotlight on a lot of the young wrestlers. He has been a good mentor backstage in addition to helping people in a better position in this company, by helping us get more fans, sell more pay-per-views, and sell more merchandise. He has been that guy.
Punk should have been AEW's champion even earlier, according to Allin, who said he could not find any issue with Punk going for the title. Allin said that Punk could have leaned on his name, but instead has been on television just about every week. Punk has wrestled 19 matches in nine months, more than most expected.
Everyone wants the top spot, but not everyone wants to work for it. He will randomly go out there on a Wednesday and kill the match before the show starts. He is not a typical donna. He is ready to rock. He is ready to be put to work. I want everyone to be put to work. Guys are saying that they don't feel like wrestling this week. It's like let's go with him. I want people to know what I can do. He is the best at it and I want to follow in his footsteps.
He wanted to see what it was like to wrestle Punk. The two had never had a match against each other, but that changed on April 20. The way Punk tells a story in the ring, by slowing down, listening to the fans, and adapting from there, is right up there with legends like Shawn Michaels, said Rhodes.
The biggest deal Punk has is that he makes people feel something, according to Rhodes. They are impressive. They will remember how you made them feel at the end of the match. They are either going to come back or they are not. We want them to come back. We want them to feel something.
The lifting of AEW from a business perspective has already happened. Double or Nothing will be the first time that AEW has sold more than $1 million in tickets. The AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will co-promote an event at the United Center in Chicago on June 26. Television ratings and pay-per-view buys have increased year over year with the addition of Punk and other big-name free-agent signees like Bryan Danielson.
Considering Punk's star power, putting the title on him would seem to be a wise business decision. Punk is not necessarily thinking about that. He believes this is what his pro-wrestling experience should have been, because he is having the time of his life. Punk said it makes him angry that he missed out on this type of environment for a long time. He said he spent too much time chewing his fingernails and worrying about what old head would make him angry.
Punk said it was kind of wasted. It should have been more. This is what pro wrestling should be. I am here and I am in the moment. I am not thinking about tomorrow. I am not worried about that. I'm living in the moment and I'm in the best shape of my life.
He is also referring to the crowds that have greeted him with open arms and loud chants over the last nine months. Punk means the wisdom he has been able to pass on and the moments he has created for younger wrestlers.
Punk patted him on the chest when he was on the ground after the match. Punk whispered, "This is for your mom."
He could have made the match about him. He wanted to show me in the match.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
