Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: aew, cm punk, wrestling

CM Punk Talks His AEW Debut and the Difference From MITB 2011

Published Sat, 21 Aug 2021 16:07:11 -0500

CM Punk made his AEW Debut on Friday at AEW Rampage: The First Dance, creating an all-time great emotional moment for fans. You can read a full transcript of Punk's return promo here. After the show, Punk answered questions from the media, and he discussed the difference between AEW and WWE and the difference between his AEW debut and the memorable moment when he defeated John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011.

CM Punk returns to wrestling at AEW Rampage: The First Dance [Photo: All Elite Wrestling]

"I did tear up," said Punk of his debut on Friday. "I teared up a lot. I thought I was going to cry more than I did. But it's very emotional, you know? You think, do these people care? And if they do care, do they care because I'm from here? It felt like a real moment, and I didn't want to really think too much about what I was going to say because I legitimately needed to go out there and feel that. And then I knew I would know once I was out there what I had to say and what I had to do."

"This felt more organic," he said, comparing Rampage to Money in the Bank. "Everything I ever did, prior to being here, felt like a fight, and it kind of squeezed the life out of some stuff. This was a joyful moment. It didn't need to get overproduced. It didn't need everybody's input. It needed a few select people's input and just an understanding that it's pro wrestling. We don't we don't need to slick it up and lacquer it and shine it up too much. It needed to be real. So to compare the two moments, this one did not feel like a job."

"This doesn't have to be as hard as some people will tell you it needs to be, and what I have observed, especially today, being here for the first time, is nobody standing on their own dick," said Punk of the backstage attitude in AEW and how it differs from his experience in WWE. "They just let stuff happen. Because again, it's pretty simple and it's straightforward. When it's right, it's right, and you don't need 16 cooks in the kitchen messing stuff up, trying to politic and either do something positive or negative based on how somebody else is going to react to it. Everybody here is literally just like, 'let's have fun.' There's a time and there's a place to be deadly serious about this business, but I see no problem in being able to do both. I went out there, and I had fun, but I was deadly serious. I guess the happy accidents are just really people in charge back here letting people make their own mistakes and learning from it, and not punishing anybody."

"I get it," Punk continued. "It's television. But there's an entire generation of people that was ingrained that if you screw up, you're going to get fired. And I just I just feel nothing but joy back here backstage, and I think, if somebody does screw something up or make a mistake, I think there's just people back here that will say, hey, maybe try it, do it this way this time. There's no I told you so. There's no pointing fingers. There's nobody in the corner elbowing. Everybody back here wants everybody to succeed. I don't think that's a happy accident. That's a happy on purpose."

You can read more about CM Punk's return to wrestling at AEW Rampage here.

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