9 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam

7. CM Punk Finds The Balance

CM Punk
AEW

We've seen more Phil Brooks than CM Punk in AEW thus far. The man knows this.

He had to strike two chords in an Arthur Ashe Stadium that was never going to let him cut straight into a promo vowing the reckoning of Powerhouse Hobbs: he had to acknowledge the crowd and hype them up for the Rampage match. He fused both beats together with a deft beauty of a promo.

He claimed that Hobbs and Team Taz wanted to ruin his grand comeback story and the euphoric feeling that has driven it away from him. To arrive at that central point, and get the prospect of the match over, he once more articulated that feeling in front a besotted New York crowd. "I tried to walk down that aisle and mean-mug, and I see and I hear all of you and I crack a smile," he said. He couldn't help how he felt. He was pissed, but then he couldn't be. And then he got pissed at the idea of somebody taking what was his.

A human being expressing their real feelings and working them into a pro wrestling storyline is far better than the routine beats of a pro wrestling storyline.

"You slept on the legend of CM Punk, and it's not my job to wake you up - it's my job to tuck your ass in."

What a line. Punk talked a lot about how much he loves to hear 'Cult of Personality', but the fire burned in his best promo since the First Dance.

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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!