The Self-Destruction Of CM Punk In AEW | Wrestling Timelines
August 27, 2023 - The Last Dance
Amid untenable company strife and softening domestic business, AEW, in something of an echo of WWF SummerSlam 1992, manages to pack out Wembley Stadium in England. Depending on who you believe, All In: London is either the highest-drawing pro wrestling show of all-time, or very close to it. Either way, it is a monumentally impressive achievement, especially in light of WWE’s monopoly.
It doesn’t matter. Again.
On the ‘Zero Hour’ pre-show, Jack Perry loses to HOOK in an FTW Rules (anything goes) match. During it, Perry smashes HOOK against the windshield of a car with a rolling thunder. He pops up, stands up, and pounds the windshield with his knuckles, creating a thud. He says to a nearby camera operator, staring down the lens: “You know what this is right here? Real glass. Go cry me a river.”
This is Perry’s first major public transgression, but it’s not carried out after a TV taping and captured by a smartphone. This is AEW’s biggest event ever. Also, and this is crucial, he isn’t a star on CM Punk’s level, not even close. It’s a stupid and bratty - and destructive - thing to do. CM Punk - who was made to make his own way to Wembley, which likely reinforces to him what a farce the company is - confronts Jack Perry backstage immediately after the match.
As you’d expect, reports vary wildly. Did Punk aggressively ask Perry if they had a problem? Did Punk calmly ask Perry what we’re doing here? Did Punk punch Perry out, or choke him out? Did something actually go down with Tony Khan?
Shockingly, in a little while, we’ll get to see it for ourselves.
Punk is persuaded by Samoa Joe to go out and work their scheduled match. It’s a blissful, witty, pissy war - like Punk Vs. Kingston, but with a broader, masterful, stadium-sized appeal. Punk and Joe generate a monstrous reaction. Punk plays situational cocky heel; Joe plays irresistible live performer badass, and he bloodies Punk in the most entertaining manner imaginable. It’s an exceptional, economic match. It’s the last match CM Punk works for AEW.
This, at long last, is the point of no return. The CM Punk drama and its now labyrinthine subplots have overshadowed and ruined the feeling of what should have been the greatest night in company history. This was inevitable. AEW is now a magnetic field of conflict.
Both Perry and Punk are suspended. Bryan Danielson steps in as the protagonist of Collision.