The hottest story in wrestling happened last Friday night when CM Punk returned to wrestling making his anticipated debut for AEW. This was speculated for weeks and when his music hit the roof came off of the UIntied Center.
While this was speculated for weeks people in wrestling were asked about it possibly happening. One of them was WWE Champion Roman Reigns. Reigns was asked in an interview about CM Punk and these were his comments.
Roman is obviously in a tough spot because he has to understand the magnitude of Punk returning but has to downplay it because of who he works for. Is Punk a bigger draw than the Rock? No, but who is. The Rock has gone on to become one of the most popular celebrities of all time so to say Punk isn’t as big as the Rock is factual. The Rock brings in more casual fans who watched during the attitude era where Punk brings back the fans who loved wrestling and stuck with it past the attitude era but were treated like crap with WWE’s product so they stopped watching. Punk saved a lot of fans from turning off sooner because he spoke the truth on what was wrong with the product 10 years ago this year with his infamous promo.
Now fast forward today…. On Monday the TV ratings were released for shows over the weekend and the number for AEW Rampage: First Dance was massive considering the day and time slot. AEW Rampage drew an average of 1,129,000 people with the key demo (18-49) being a .53. For a one-hour show on Friday nights at 10 p.m that is an absurd number. This is AEW’s second-highest number ever in the key demo which is one of the reasons why they brought in Punk to get those fans who eft when Punk did in 2014. Just listen to the crowd’s reaction and you know he is a needle mover.
CM Punk announced he will be facing Darby Allin at ALL Out on September 5th for his first wrestling match in 7 years. Will you be watching Punk’s first match back? Let us know!
