10 Wrestlers Who Couldn't Hide Their Anger At A REAL Insult

5. CM Punk

Pissed Roman Reigns
AEW

At the time, nobody thought anything of the infamous verbal joust between CM Punk and Hangman Page on the Double Or Nothing 2022 go-home edition of AEW Dynamite.

Nobody knew what to think about the programme in general. It was bizarre. Both men used one another's finish in TV matches. Punk made this fairly rote, respectful babyface versus babyface plot explicit when he talked about how much he respected and even liked "the Hangman".

Confusion seeped in when Page didn't really go along with that basic premise.

He didn't respect Punk. He seemed to despise Punk for reasons that he couldn't, wouldn't and didn't articulate. In that exchange, he said that Punk talks a big game about worker's rights. He also intimated that Punk was a different, worse person when the cameras stopped rolling and that he wished to protect AEW from CM Punk.

Basically, everybody was asking what Page's problem was. Punk himself echoed that question, but he had an idea.

He knew that Page through subtext had just accused him of vanishing Colt Cabana from AEW, and if you scour the footage carefully, you can see Punk's mood shift. You can see the facade fight for its life. Punk smiles, but it's pained. You can see in his eyes that he can't - yet - respond.

Then, when Page goes on, Punk looks on at him with a scowl. This was the very beginning of a long stewing process in which Punk never shook that thought from his head over an uncertain, bleak summer on the shelf.

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!