5 ROH Callbacks You Missed On AEW Dynamite Last Night

by Andrew Pollard

1. "I'm A Snake"

CM Punk MJF AEW Dynamite ROH Death By Dishonor III I'm A Snake
AEW.com

Taken on its own and in a bubble, MJF's attack on CM Punk and subsequent verbal berating was a piece of pro wrestling gold. Making this all the more brilliant, though, is how it was a direct callback to the Second City Saint's post-match promo from 2005's ROH Death Before Dishonor III.

As Punk put it in '05 after dethroning Austin Aries to become the new ROH World Champion:

"You stupid old man. I'm a snake. The greatest thing the Devil ever did was make you people believe he didn't exist... and you're looking at him right now! I am the Devil himself and all of you stupid, mindless people fell for it."

The old man in question that time around was the legendary Ricky Steamboat, with the Dragon serving as an ROH authority figure who was butting heads with CM Punk.

In terms of MJF, after duping CM Punk and assaulting him, the Salt of the Earth emphatically, clinically stated:

"You stupid, stupid old man. I'm a snake. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. And this Sunday, at Revolution, I'm going to show you and all these mindless sheep that I am the Devil himself."

Pretty similar, right? In terms of further callbacks with this segment, elements of that initial Punk promo were nods to a Jake Roberts promo from over a decade prior, whilst the line about the Devil originated from French theorist Charles Baudelaire and was further popularised after being utilised in 1995's The Usual Suspects.

Credit to the @EIiteAEW Twitter account for putting this clip together:

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.