| Jumpin said: Crowds are becoming crazy again for pro-wrestling. Here is a shot of the CM Punk reveal from the audience. It happens just after the 2:50 mark, but go back to about 2:45 to contrast how loud it was compared to the music. It reminds me of the absurdity of the crowds in the Attitude era dealing with The Rock or a surprise Stone Cold appearance. Except this one was bigger. The music is eclipsed by what can't be accurately called a pop. It was more like an explosion of the sort of crowd insanity you'd expect for a tie breaking goal in the World Cup final (or a sudden death goal in the Stanley Cup final, Punk being an NHL guy and all). |
This is why I was pretty much 100% confident that CM Punk would be coming back to the WWE. At this point pretty much everyone who is a mainstream star has come through the WWE. So you can't really have a big OMG it's ________ moment anymore, because whoever it is, we've probably already seen them in WWE, and even if they left, we were pretty sure they'd be back, because everyone always comes back. You could have something like when AJ styles debuted where it's a big deal to the people who are bigger wrestling fans, but you can't have something like when Jericho debuted on Raw, or the Outsiders went to WCW, etc. Closest we've had was Cody debuting.
CM Punk is the one exception. Everyone comes back (unless they die), but he was the one person you thought just might not. So, there's something just extra special about that which can't be replicated. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this is the biggest moment in WWE since... I dunno, maybe Mania 30 when Bryan won the title? Point is, this was the most exciting thing to happen in a while, and that means $$$$$$$$.
CM Punk kind of redid his debut promo on Smackdown, and it was much better. It was not quite a pipe bomb, but a nice little cherry bomb promo where he called out people, made some references to the past, and threw some shade at AEW for those who are in the know. It's more of what you expected of Punk. I like the way they're going with this where it's kind of a question mark whether this is nice guy Punk who is going to be a team player and play by the rules or if he's gonna be the prickly disagreeable Punk of the past. And that's definitely the way to go, because that's what fans are wondering. Sometimes when it is given to you on a silver platter, you just eat it.
That being said, I don't like the idea of Punk main eventing Mania. There are just so many other guys that have been killing it lately. Owens, Mcyntyre, Sami Zayn are at the top of that list. Rhea vs Bianca could also be a main event if they book it right (I don't think they have to have a women's main event just for the sake of equality, but if you have two legit female stars and can build it, you should). Whatever CM Punk does at Mania will be a big deal, and if he's in it for the long haul, there's no harm in waiting a year.
In terms of AEW, I'll actually be going to World's End. It's nearby, and I have a friend who is an AEW fan that went to Extreme Rules with me, so I kind of owed them one. And Danielson is one of my favorite wrestlers so it'll be nice to see him live for what I believe will be the first time. Plus, if they reveal Jack Perry as the Devil, I may get to be part of a riot... or at least a very long exasperated groan.
