10 Non-AEW Stars Who Should Challenge For The TNT Championship

1. CM Punk

Zack Ryder TNT Champ
WWE

No, no, no, of course this isn't going to happen. In fact, I'd be quite happy putting actual money on CM Punk never making a single appearance on Dynamite between now and the day he leaves this mortal coil. The Voice of the Voiceless seems pretty content in his retirement, chasing passion projects left, right and centre. Why would he even consider a return to the squared circle? To put his body under stress that it surely doesn't; miss? Sorry Punk fans, it just isn't happening.

But maybe, just maybe, this will be the big pop of that first show back with fans. Is there a bigger pop in the pocket of the ailing professional wrestling industry? I'd argue not. CM Punk is the genie left in pro wrestling's bottle, a marmite figure that is so very missed by, ahem, this business. The opening blast of noise that heralds the beginning of 'Cult of Personality' will blow the roof off of any building.

WWE has spammed 'moments'. They don't mean anything anymore, passing by an ever-less interested audience, one increasing in age and decreasing in attention span. AEW must be careful to not go that same way. With that in mind, CM Punk answering Cody's open challenge for the AEW TNT Championship could be a true 'moment' in the old sense of the term, something that lives long in the memory and puts the company on a map.

It isn't happening, but this is professional wrestling; never say never.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.