6 Things AEW Got Right About CM Punk's Debut
For once, let's talk about the good - and near perfection - in professional wrestling.
If you consider yourself a wrestling fan, this past weekend was enough to get you geeked for days. Surprises galore permeated the big two promotions in the United States, and fans have spent the subsequent days debating which was more impactful, and what each means for their respective company.
The most seismic of these debuts/returns saw CM Punk arrive in AEW, confirming weeks of increasingly strong rumors and blowing the roof off the United Center in Chicago. Punk was last seen on national TV in a wrestling ring in January 2014, though fans have incessantly chanted his name for the past seven years.
Punk’s formal return to wrestling has been imagined and fantasy-booked almost since the day he left WWE, so it’s only fitting that we take a look at the execution of the actual moment and see what AEW got right about it. Truthfully, it’s hard to envision a better-booked scenario – returning to join a hot, upstart promotion that fits his persona, in his hometown no less – but there are plenty of things that could have gone awry.
So let’s dive into CM Punk’s return to professional wrestling and for once, let’s talk about what went right. Let’s get to it…
6. Organic Buildup And Hints
While Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar’s returns to WWE at SummerSlam this weekend were surprises, CM Punk’s appearance at AEW Rampage was anything but.
AEW and its personnel spent a couple months hyping the First Dance episode of Rampage, emanating from Chicago, as being a monumental show and moment for the young promotion. The hints were so overt that things reached the point that fans were expecting Punk to show up, and if he hadn’t – even if were someone like Byan Danielson – the response would have catastrophic.
Then you had stuff like Darby Allin calling out anyone who calls themselves the “Best in the World” in the lead-up, and more subtle hints like Kenny Omega wearing a T-shirt that simply read, “Chick Magnet.” If you were paying attention, there were enough breadcrumbs to make an entire loaf, and when Rampage opened and “Cult of Personality” hit, you were instantly rewarded for playing along these past several weeks.
That is what professional wrestling should be like. Genuine surprises are great, but sometimes providing fans with the expectation and then that little injection of serotonin are even better.