Massive CM Punk-AEW Bombshell Dropped
A wrestling legend who worked for AEW mentioned how CM Punk fit in when he was there.
CM Punk’s WWE return has gone well since he came back in November 2023. In that time, Punk has main evented WrestleMania twice, he’s won the World Heavyweight Title twice, and this past week on Monday Night Raw, Punk won the WWE Championship again.
After beating Sami Zayn for the WWE Championship on Raw, CM Punk became an 8-time WWE World Champion, cementing his legacy as an all-time great superstar in WWE history and, obviously, a future Hall of Famer.
Prior to working for WWE, Punk had a tumultuous two-year run in AEW that started in the summer of 2021 and ended after his second backstage fight – this time with Jack Perry at All In London 2023. Punk was fired, and that opened the door for his WWE return.
Jim Ross is a legendary wrestling announcer who has worked for AEW since it launched in January 2019 and was also a big part of WWE during Punk’s first run from 2006 to early 2014.
On a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross praised CM Punk for his value as a pro wrestler and spoke about Punk’s talent as a heel.
“I prefer his work with him having an edge. If the edge is ascribed to the level that he is not liked, he’s going to be a heel, then so be it. I don’t have a problem with that.
As long as Punk is featured, then I’m happy, as long as he doesn’t disappear off the face of the wrestling earth. He’s valuable talent. He can be a great heel or a great babyface, and he’s another guy that’s in our reliable category.”
As he continued talking about Punk, JR admitted that he wishes the current WWE Champion was still All Elite.
“I wish we still had him at AEW. He made things lively around that place. He kept it interesting.” (H/T Wrestlingnewsco)
CM Punk Facing Cody Rhodes At WWE SummerSlam, And Teaming With Him At Saturday Night’s Main Event
In the opening segment of WWE SmackDown in Oklahoma City, CM Punk said he was in negotiations to join SmackDown before winning the WWE Championship this past Monday on Raw. After Cody Rhodes was attacked by Gunther on Raw, Punk returned to WWE TV after three months and beat Sami Zayn to win the WWE Title.
After his speech about being moved to SmackDown as the WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes confronted Punk, who had a black eye under his left eye. As they exchanged words, Cody challenged Punk to a WWE Title match at SummerSlam, and Punk accepted. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis made it official.
Later in the show, Nick Aldis also announced that at Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 18th, CM Punk will team up with Cody Rhodes against Gunther and Sami Zayn, so it will be interesting to see if Punk and Rhodes will be on the same page.
WWE SummerSlam takes place on August 1 & 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here’s the lineup so far:
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins
- Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
- Hell in a Cell Match: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
- Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs. Iyo Sky
You can watch SummerSlam, a special two-night event STREAMING LIVE on Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited plan in the United States and on Netflix internationally.