CM Punk needed to be sure before returning to pro wrestling — he’s finally back.
The former WWE champion returned to the industry for the first time in seven years as a member of All Elite Wrestling as he opened “AEW Rampage” to an all-time-level pop at the United Center in his hometown of Chicago on Friday night. It was the first appearance by Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, on a televised wrestling show since the 2014 Royal Rumble.
“I look at it like this, August 13th, 2005, I left professional wrestling [and Ring of Honor],” Punk told the raucous crowd while sitting in the ring. “August 20th, 2021, I’m back. And I’m back for you. I’m not gonna lie, I’m back for me, too. I’m back because there’s a hell of a lot of young talent that I wished I was surrounded by 10 years ago. So in saying that, I sit back and I say well, hell they’re there no so why aren’t you. Here I am.”
His first match will be against former TNT champion Darby Allin, who is working with Sting, at the All Out pay-per-view on Sept. 5. Punk said in a conference call after the show that he and AEW President Tony Khan have been talking about him coming in for a year and a half, but the lack of crowds during the coronavirus pandemic forced everything to wait.
“Some girls are easier to get into bed, I’m not.” the 42-year-old Punk said. “I need to be wined and dined. And it’s not, ‘Oh I need more money and less dates.’ It’s literally just talking to Tony and getting to know him. The more people that he employed that I knew, I’d ask questions, they’d tell me things.
“I’ve been in the game for a few minutes, so I’ve seen … I think I’ve traced it back to the downfall of ECW, every six months to a year somebody pops up, ‘I have money, we’re going to have TV, we’re going to use all the ECW guys. This is not a slight on Tony, it’s more of a slight on me being a paranoid, neurotic, anxiety-ridden, very careful person.”
Promotions have tried to court Punk — a cult hero among fans — back to wrestling multiple times over the past seven years. He noted that AEW, which only began operation in January 2019, didn’t need to prove anything to him in order to get him to sign. It was more about him gradually growing comfortable with a return to pro wrestling.
“It was about me being open to the idea, and it wasn’t going to be well I’m going to jump in the pool right away,” Punk said, who used his traditional “Cult of Personality” entrance song and gave all the fans ice cream bars. “No, I had to dip my toe in and see how things were gonna be.”
“It was definitely worth the wait,” Khan said.
Punk officially joining AEW — and potentially Daniel Bryan coming along too — has been anticipated for a month. Reports surfaced in July that he and Bryan had signed with AEW. The company would tease Punk’s arrival without confirming it leading up to Friday.
“A lot of people back here were in on it, they knew I was gonna be here, but they weren’t sure and man is that fun,” he said. “Worst kept secret, designed that way for a reason. You can criticize and say they should have advertised [me], maybe the rating would be better. It’s about the moments.”
Since leaving WWE, Punk has tried his hand at fighting in the UFC, acting and writing comic books among other things. He is currently an analyst for Cage Fury Fight Championship — which he said will continue —and had a role on the new wrestling-based Starz show “Heels.” Punk also worked for Fox Sports on the “WWE Backstage” studio show. He jokingly blamed former “Backstage” host Renee Paquette for getting him thinking about the pro wrestling industry again.
“It’s all her fault,” he said. “She’s the one who got me to come back and do that “Backstage” thing and opened my eyes.”
He did not leave WWE on the best of terms. At that time he cited numerous injuries, being ill and displeased with how he was being used creatively. In 2018, Punk won a civil lawsuit brought by former WWE doctor Chris Amann claiming Punk defamed him on a 2014 podcast with Colt Cabana discussing his frustrations with WWE and why he left. Punk claimed that during a European tour, Amann “Z-Pakked me to death” when he wasn’t feeling well.
“When I was sick and tired, hurt and I realized that these people wouldn’t care if I died today, there would be another show tomorrow,” Punk said. “I knew I had to remove myself from the situation. I didn’t know how long it was going to take for me to heal and then this came along. Credit to everyone at AEW. It reminded me of places I used to love where it was not about … it’s more about the spirit of the thing. Instead of feeling like a house it felt like a home.”
Punk did not want to get into the specifics of his contract, but said, “it wasn’t a part-time thing” and “I’m here to have fun and I’m here to help if anyone wants help.” Khan added that he’s “going to be doing this for a while.”
Punk listed Allin, Will Hobbs, Brian Pillman Jr. Jungle Boy and Ricky Starks as a few of the young stars he would like to get a chance to work with and mentioned Jon Moxley as well. As far as getting prepared for his match with Allin, he hasn’t really done much in-ring training, but “working out in my basement trying to get into better shape to be publicly in my underwear again” and called returning to the ring like riding a bike.
Punk’s arrival is a huge shot in the arm for AEW, which is already riding a huge wave of momentum since fans returned. “AEW Dynamite” has drawn more than a million viewers four of the past six weeks and its viewership in the coveted 18-49 demo is moving toward challenging that of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw.” Punk only will add to that energy and could bring more lapsed wrestling fans to AEW or pique non-wrestling fans’ curiosity about the product.
Punk said he was nervous before walking out into the arena and he did tear up a bit coming down the ramp at the United Center, calling what happened a very organic moment.
“I was emotional walking out on that stage knowing this is fun, I love this again,” Punk said. “I’ve been a lifelong wrestling fan. Sometimes you fall in and out of love with stuff. You set something free and it comes back to you, then it’s true love.”