Let’s get one thing straight. CM Punk is one of the most gifted wrestlers of his time. He’s also one of the absolute legends on the pro wrestling microphone. Put a microphone in his hand, and watch out. He will speak his mind, no matter where the shrapnel flies.
Trust me. When you’re known for the legendary “Pipe Bomb” promo, in which you eviscerate your opponent, your company, and your bosses in the span of minutes … hell, let me just play you that promo.
Twelve years ago, CM Punk cost John Cena a wrestling win … then he took the microphone and went ballistic.
Yeah. CM Punk mentioned taboo subjects on a WWE broadcast. He mentioned other pro wrestling organizations, including Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He commented on booking shenanigans, he tore Vince McMahon and his family (who owned WWE) apart like a strongman tears a telephone book in half.
This was the legend of CM Punk.
Eventually CM Punk left WWE, and after a 7-year retirement, he joined All Elite Wrestling in 2021. In AEW, he immediately rose to the top of the card, he won the AEW heavyweight championship several times, and had incredible matches with some of that company’s top stars.
But something changed with CM Punk. He could still savage anyone in a promo … but now some people were swinging back in promos of their own … and the message was clear. The image of the “Voice of the Voiceless,” the “Second City Saint,” the “Straight-Edge Superstar” – it was more of a veneer, a facade, rather than the solid construction.
Take a look at Punk’s face when Max Caster of The Acclaimed drops a few needles at Punk’s expense. There’s a smile … but it’s an uncomfortable smile at best.
By November 2021, CM Punk was in a heated battle with one of AEW’s top babyfaces, Eddie Kingston. The two men dueled on the microphone, and while Punk brought up Eddie Kingston’s early years in the sport, Kingston went for the jugular. And it was vicious.
Punk would also enter into a feud with one of AEW’s homegrown stars, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who seemed to have snatched the promo pebble from Punk’s hand as if MJF were Kwai Chaing Cane from the old Kung Fu TV series.
A few months later, Punk cut a scathing promo where he called out AEW wrestler “Hangman” Adam Page, challenging for a match – and knowing full well that Page wasn’t even in the building. Even the announce team were confused at what Punk did, but it was a troll move from Punk to make Hangman Page look weak. This caused another AEW pillar, Jon Moxley, to come out and challenge Punk. And Moxley exposed Punk for what was perceived as Punk’s fragile ego in the ring.
That all came to a boil in 2022, when after one of AEW’s biggest pay-per-views – All Out 2022 – CM Punk participated in a media scrum, where he spent 22 minutes airing all his grievances about a company that, only one year prior, he claimed was his new home for the foreseeable future. He even shredded his former longtime friend, Scott Colton (a/k/a “Colt Cabana”), whom he name-checked in that original 2011 WWE “Pipe Bomb” promo. Fair warning – the language on this video is not safe for work.
This scrum – and a fistfight afterward in a locker room involving Punk and some of AEW’s top talent – forced AEW to suspend Punk for several months. Punk would later return, but although he could still put together some banger matches in the ring (heck, check out his 2023 All In match with Samoa Joe as proof), he still couldn’t get over what he perceived as personal slights. Heck, he still carried a grudge against Hangman Adam Page, as can be heard in this fan-recorded video after one of Punk’s matches.
And after yet ANOTHER unscripted fight after a pay-per-view, AEW fired Punk. Straight-up kicked him out of the company, fired him for cause.
A few months later … the man who swore he would never return to a WWE ring … showed up last night in a WWE ring. He took a microphone in his hand. What would he say? What would he do? Would he shoot on AEW? Would he challenge Hangman Page to a WWE fight? Would he through more pipe bombs at Eddie Kingston and MJF and the Acclaimed and all the AEW talent?
Well … not really … he did this instead.
Well, that was … understated. To say the least.
But I caught something at the end of that promo. A small statement at the end, with Punk talking directly to the camera. “I’m back,” he says. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make money.”
Oh. So all that talk about being the voice of the voiceless over the years was … summed up last night as a potential paycheck? The man behind the pipe bombs and the principled stances … is nothing more than the old wrestling adage that every man has his price? (cue evil Ted DiBiase Sr. laugh).
That maybe Maxwell Jacob Friedman was right. Maybe CM Punk really became PG Punk after all.
And maybe Eddie Kingston was right. That nobody really wanted Punk in AEW and were afraid to stand up to him.
And maybe Jon Moxley was right. That Punk’s fragile ego superseded Punk’s undeniable talent.
Wow.
To tell you the truth, I expected more from CM Punk than just an “I’m back in the WWE, let’s all hold hands and sing Kumbayah.” I really did.
But seeing Punk’s return to WWE … made me honestly change my mind about Punk’s time in All Elite Wrestling. I’m glad he was there … but now I’m glad he left AEW.
I’m glad for AEW, because now they can focus on their stars and their talent and their storylines and their matches. AEW’s currently running a G1-style round robin tournament called the Continental Classic, and the participants in that tournament have already produced five-star matches in the past week. And that includes participants like Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley, who stood up for AEW against Punk in the past.
I’m glad for WWE, because CM Punk’s now in their ballpark and I know that no matter what happens from here on out, Punk is now in a company where everything is more tightly controlled than ever before. The promos are scripted down to the breaths between the letters. The touring schedule is a grind, with house shows and multiple weeks of live events. And CM Punk is now one fish in a very, very large aquarium with established superstars who may or may not want to step aside for the return of the Second City Saint.
Yeah. CM Punk’s back in WWE.
For now.
Check back with me in nine months. Let me know if he’s still there, or if he got injured when he botched a Figure Four leglock. Or if he got into a backstage fight with Seth Rollins or Drew McIntyre or Shinsuke Nakamura over some perceived slight.
Because, in my honest opinion, what once was an incredible professional wrestler – one of the best of his generation, if not all time – isn’t what he once was.
It’s as if the Straight Edge Superstar lost his edge.
Chuck The Writer 