10 Amazing Wrestling Callbacks You Totally Missed

9. CM Punk With A Golden Nod To The Past

MJF Samoa Joe
AEW

CM Punk is a thug.

Not, not because he's a temperamental fellow who would fight Haku if he thought he'd waved politely in Dave Meltzer's direction, but because T is for terrible, H is for hell, U is for ugly and G is for jail 'cause a thug can't spell.

CM Punk loved and idolised Tracy Smothers, who created that quite incredible catchphrase - one that's all the better, somehow, for not making that much sense. Smothers was a straight shooter who, after working some of the best (and earliest) ladder matches in the '90s, spent his twilight years on the indies. There, he cultivated a great reputation for imparting advice and being a good soul with the interests of the next generation in mind.

He dressed as the Golden Vampire to outwit the deeply missed Sweet N' Sour Larry Sweeney at an IWA Mid-South show in 2005, from which Punk took inspiration to fool Samoa Joe on the August 19, 2023 AEW Collision. With Joe expecting a tune-up match against a jobber, Punk struck him - that is euphemistic - with the GTS. Their now infamous date at Wembley was set.

Look, the GTS was more Tom Magee than Tracy, but it was still a nice deep cut.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!