Why Wrestling Is About To Make The Biggest Mistake Of The Century
Collaborate about this in secret, lay the f*cking thing out, have CM Punk debut as a surprise this time - to utterly destroy the internet to an extent of which Elon Musk would be jealous - and make the most money AEW has ever made.
The Elite, again, actually played the fools in Chicago. They didn't get their sh*t in en route to victory in Phoenix, Arizona or something. They clowned it up and got custard pied for the benefit of a pro-Punk audience with a babyface comeback in another city in mind. You sense they'd do it.
FTR routinely beg to work the Bucks again. CM Punk however is a man who got the Pepsi logo tattooed on his body as a joke. Historically, it is very, very easy for him to stop giving a sh*t about something - but restoring his legacy is something that mattered to him just a year ago. He almost cried at the thought of Tony Khan preserving his body of work in Ring Of Honor. If what he accomplished 17 years ago still means everything to him, maybe his final brush stroke means something too. If a carefully staged exit isn't that punk rock a way to go out - is there a more punk rock way of doing it, and a more Bret Hart way of doing it, than punching your boss? - Punk might not be the punk rocker he has almost marketed himself as. He took the Fox money, after all.
Even if the biggest dream match in wrestling right now doesn't instigate the biggest permanent shift in viewership habits in well over a quarter of a century, not doing everything possible to make it happen would still represent a colossal mistake because AEW isn't performing amazingly well in and of itself. Gates are down. The atmosphere in certain markets is quietening. The pay-per-view buy number ceiling is lowering again.
It would be a colossal mistake because it could be one of the best and loudest programmes ever. It's the sort of thing that sparks the imagination of the fantasy booker like nothing else. Imagine CM Punk motioning to do the Buckshot, landing on his feet, and slapping Matt Jackson in the face. Even if he f*cked it up - a strong possibility - Matt could instantly lock in the Sharpshooter with the biggest sh*t-eating grin on his face you've ever f*cking seen.
Shoot feuds are a paradox that tend to fail the very second that two very real rivals agree to collaborate with one another - but to this day, people still think that FTR and the Bucks hate one another, when in fact the latter team were in tears of happiness after Full Gear 2020. If any six men can reconcile their differences and pretend otherwise, it is this lot. So do it.
Not doing it is the biggest mistake of the century.