CM Punk Comments On One Year Anniversary Of AEW Debut
CM Punk is reflecting on his 2021 AEW debut on Rampage one year later calling it “the best year of my professional career.”
When Punk signed with All Elite Wrestling it was a big deal because the former multi-time WWE World Champion left that company in January 2014 when he was unhappy about a lot of things. Punk not only left WWE, but he left pro wrestling behind for over seven years until he signed with AEW last summer.
The August 20, 2021 edition of Rampage started with the familiar “Cult of Personality” song from the band Living Colour that Punk used throughout his career, including the end of his run in WWE. Once that music hit, the Chicago crowd exploded in cheers for the man that would now call AEW his home.
Over the last year, Punk has gone through a lot while wrestling some of the biggest names in AEW including Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston, Wardlow, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and “Hangman” Adam Page. It was Hangman who Punk defeated at Double or Nothing in May to become the AEW World Champion. Punk’s only loss in AEW came at the hands of MJF, who got some help from Wardlow, so Punk did not close once in his first year in AEW.
The past year saw Punk wrestle a lot for AEW, but he also dealt with a foot injury that put a pause on his AEW World Title run. That led to Punk being taken off television for over two months to let his injury heel while Jon Moxley became the Interim World Champion. Punk made his return to AEW on August 10 and then on the August 17 episode of Dynamite, Punk called out Moxley leading to the two World Champions brawling throughout the night.
Punk wrote the following on Instagram in honor of his one-year AEW debut anniversary calling it the “best year” of his career:
“One year ago began the best year of my professional career. Too many great moments, not enough space to post all the great pics. Rekindled passion, made new friends, reunited with old ones. Can’t stop smiling, won’t stop until the wheels fall off. Thank you most of all to all the fans who made it possible. I’m having the time of my life, as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run. And so that’ll make it a 4-0 ballgame.”
You can see Punk’s Instagram post below along with several photos taken with some of the friends he’s made in AEW and those that he knew in the past as well.
While Punk is celebrating the good times, there have been reported issues between himself and Hangman, among others in AEW.
Next Wednesday on AEW Dynamite in Cleveland, Punk and Moxley will have a match to determine the Undisputed AEW World Champion. It’s possible that there may be an inconclusive finish in that match because it’s been reported that AEW still plans to go with Punk vs. Moxley at All Out on September 4.