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Sean Waltman Thanks CM Punk & Darby Allin After All Out Homage

By TJR Staff • Published 7th September 2021
CM Punk Darby Allin

WWE Hall Of Famer Sean Waltman has shared his thanks to Darby Allin and CM Punk after the two men paid a special tribute to Waltman and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart.

CM Punk completed his return to the wrestling business when he laced up his boots for the first time in over seven and a half years and squared off with the relentless Darby Allin at All Out. The crowd jam-packed into the NOW Arena in Chicago witnessed their hometown hero pick up the victory in his return bout, putting away Allin with a Go 2 Sleep.

Wrestling savants were quick to pick up a detail from near the beginning of the bout that gave them a sense of deja vu. Allin and Punk locked up in the middle of the ring before the smaller Darby Allin gained the first advantage of the match by throwing Punk across the ring. This left a bemused CM Punk sitting on the canvas raising his eyebrows as he realised if he didn’t know before he was now in a fight.

This reminded fans of a certain vintage of a similar series of moves that occurred between Waltman – who was competing as The 1-2-3 Kid at the time and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart on RAW in their only one-on-one match ever. The first sequence of that match saw the smaller Waltman lock up with Hart and then arm drag The Hitman to the mat much to Hart’s surprise and chagrin.

Sean Waltman has since taken to social media to give his thoughts on the tribute paid to his match by Punk and Allin:

“I’m honored to have taken part in something that still has influence 1/4 of a century later.”

The bout between Sean Waltman and Bret Hart took place in July 1994 on RAW. It is considered as one of the early classics of Monday Night RAW and WWE ranked it as the third greatest match in the almost thirty-year history of their flagship show.

Here’s another video from Instagram.