10 Moments That Cemented Your Love For Professional Wrestling

Professional wrestling is an escape route for many.

It's about the feelings that travel through your veins, the emotions that cause those moments to become a fixed vision in your mind for years to come. That's why, when wrestling is at its peak, it's the single greatest medium you can imagine.

This has never before been so pivotal than the past year and a half. The pandemic brought WWE's creative process to an all-time low. The Horror Show At Extreme Rules wasn't just WWE f*cking up their SEO for the annual pay-per-view, but it was precisely that; WWE, since March 2020 onwards, has been a complete horror show. These moments we speak about couldn't save the wretched booking any more, meaning Becky Lynch's big return, Brock Lesnar's big return, Christian's big return, John Cena's big return, and, well, you get the point, are now but a memory.

Even with live audiences now back full-time, this hasn't changed. Fans simply don't care about the current product, which is understandable when Apollo Crews and King Nakamura are colliding for the tenth week in a row in a meaningless feud that made only increased your hatred for the mundane Commander Azeez.

All Elite Wrestling, on the other hand? They relished in the return of fans with one of those moments...

Crying CM Punk fan™ represented a certain demographic of pro wrestling fans on 20 August.

CM Punk's debut for AEW was hardly a surprise by the time the second Rampage episode rolled around. Sean Ross Sapp's report in July all but confirmed Punk's return for some point, backed up by the venue being confirmed as Chicago's United Center. A venue of that size for a secondary television show wasn't done because Tony Khan knew the one-minute Jade Cargill vs. Kiera Hogan match would be the world's greatest squash match; CM Punk was coming.

When he did, it was euphoric. After seven, tedious years of chants, CM Punk walked out, soaked in the energy, and dove into the crowd. He was back, and not because someone *cough, Dan Hinkles, cough* offered him a ton of cash, either. He was back because he'd missed professional wrestling.

His return was matched by his return match vs. Darby Allin at All Out. Ruined only by Punk's tights, he'd clearly put in the effort to ensure he didn't return with a sloppy performance. He still cared. That's all that mattered.

A rare victory for pro wrestling fans worldwide.