10 Wrestling Grudges That Changed The Business
5. CM Punk Vs The Elite, 2022
As of this writing, CM Punk won't be wrestling anywhere, let alone in AEW.
Recent rumours of his shocking WWE return have been diffused by those within the company, and though there'll be plenty that hold on to the idea that all of that's a work, it's been reported by at least two fairly reputable sources and has, for now, become the accepted narrative. Many, many fans will be glad to hear this.
His run in All Elite Wrestling was a utopian dream at first; a glorious parade of detailed and dynamic matches that hit every nostalgic sweet spot while gracefully building a bigger picture programme in which he rose to be AEW World Heavyweight Champion. All of that folded in a feud with MJF that earned plenty of consensus votes as the best story in company history, but it proved to be the beginning of the end.
Having beaten everybody in his path, Punk wanted the belt, but the now-infamous promo exchange with Hangman Page changed everything, and everything became everything else. This spilt over during the even more infamous "Brawl Out" press scrum, which ultimately resulted in everything else that followed in 2023...