The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
CM Punk, it’s nice of the real you to finally show up in AEW.
I’m not sure who that guy was during your first run. Whoever it was, he now feels like someone either trying to play CM Punk or remembering who CM Punk truly is after seven years away from pro wrestling. Kind of like the Michael Jordan who wore No. 45 — since he llikes the comparisons to His Airness so much.
That wasn’t the person we saw and heard during his return on “AEW Collision” at the United Center Saturday night after 10 months away due to a triceps injury and the All Out brawl suspension.
Phil Brooks got in his apologies — to everyone but Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and especially “Hangman” Adam Page — out of the way in an ESPN interview last week. There, he said he told AEW president Tony Khan he was sorry for how he handled things at the All Out press conference and he was “100 percent” wrong for what he did out of frustration.
That allowed the real CM Punk, walking the fine line between reality and story, to speak his mind at the start of Collision. Unapologetically Phil. Unfiltered Phil.
The fire was back in that man’s eyes, the bite was back in that man’s words and that man was “tired of being nice.”
It was a stark contrast to the CM Punk we saw arrive at the United Center in August 2021 during his AEW debut. That guy felt happy to be there, ready to soak in the lovefest in every town he went to. That CM Punk came in wanting to work his way from the bottom up.
The CM Punk we heard Saturday slid the AEW holder off the mic and declared at one point “the king is back,” taking a pause to soak in how true that felt to him. He called himself a “star.” He basically told MJF he is the true world champion until someone beats him after injuries caused him to twice vacate the belt. Punk also touched on this being the wrestling business “of grown-ups” as the veiled shots at The Elite — who he called “children” at All Out — continued.
“You know what [CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery] David Zaslav calls me? One Bill Phil,” Punk said. “That’s because I’m the one true genuine article in a business full of counterfeit bucks.”
Punk went on to say, alluding to the Elite and their fans, that there are people who think “they are owed an apology”
“I am sorry that the only people softer than you are the wrestlers you like,” Punk said. “Tell me when I’m telling lies.”
Maybe The Elite deserve a thank you for lighting a fire in Brooks’ soul that truly brought CM Punk back to wrestling.
It hammered home that this CM Punk didn’t come back to be loved or hated. He came back to be polarizing. He is back to fan the flames of an eventual match between him and FTR versus Omega and the Young Bucks that we might never see. Punk looked good as he and FTR went on to beat Jay White, Juice Robinson and Samoa Joe in classic-style trios match in the main event,
Punk told ESPN he has yet to speak to The Elite. He is open to a full sit-down that hasn’t happened yet. Also in the interview, he claimed Page tried to intentionally hurt him with a chop during their match on Double or Nothing in May 2022. Hopefully we soon get The Elite’s side instead of drips on social media.
“I understand that the sheer magnitude of me makes people uncomfortable,” Punk said Saturday. “I very much understand that my mere presence makes people uncomfortable. That’s because I am the truth and the truth is painful.”
The real CM Punk is finally back. Wrestling world beware.
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Golden Game
So Seth Rollins will put the world heavyweight championship on the line in NXT against Bron Breakker on Tuesday as part of two weeks of the brand’s “Gold Rush” promotion. Baron Corbin will take on NXT champion Carmelo Hayes the following week as it feels like the main roster is all over the brand now with Dana Brooke — who was drafted to Raw — in the mix and Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo showing up. I wonder how much of this is about ratings with WWE’s television rights being negotiated and the company wanting to make NXT, whose ratings are trending up, as strong a property as possible.
A Fine Finish
Having MJF and Adam Cole’s world title eliminator match end in a time-limit draw at the buzzer was brilliant. The champion gets to skulk away without losing and Cole clearly deserves a rematch. I do wish the announcers would have given us some clue the clock was in play — even if it was a five-minute warning to make the bell ringing less confusing in the moment. MJF saying he will no-show his Forbidden Door match with Hiroshi Tanahashi has piqued my interest on what comes next.
The 10 Count
Roman Reigns flailing vulnerably near the bottom rope and then getting double superkicked by Jimmy and Jey Uso was TV art. Jey did what Reigns is too blind to see or do. He put family before ultimate power and championship gold. Also, what is the point of a new title belt if Reigns actually is going to walk around with all three?
Hopefully, the final chaotic minutes of Dynamite that saw Eddie Kingston return and Will Ospreay surprise attack Kenny Omega is a precursor of the fun to come this summer. It’s the type of hot ending AEW really needed to start to build excitement for Forbidden Door.
Chris Jericho tweeting that a match between him and Sting will “never happen” two days before he and The Icon had a faceoff for the first time in their careers makes it feel like we should have seen it coming. Happy it is.
WWE doesn’t seem be ready to explore babyface LA Knight. We got a ton of classic heel stuff from him in his match on SmackDown on Friday before he was super over on the mic in Cleveland on Raw. If it’s not a Money in the Bank swerve then it could stifle his momentum if WWE doesn’t embrace his popularity. While on the other hand, Iyo Sky could end up as a babyface if she keeps shoving every thing Bayley did to her back at her.
Nick Aldis is truly at his best when he is a heel. He has been used very, very well in Impact after attacking world champ Alex Shelley.
The women really need to get a chance to cut more promos in front of a live audience in AEW. No reason Taya Valkyrie needed a pointless match only to cut a short segment with TBS champion Kris Statlander backstage. It’s harder to get people and feuds over that way.
So much about Collison felt first class — the graphics, the big stars. But what really stood out was the refreshingly superb commentary from Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. They picked up right where they left off from their time in NXT. They are right there with the best teams on TV right now.
I hope WWE appreciates what they have in Chad Gable and Otis and how they can get anything over because of how much the audience is endeared to them. I felt like I was watching Kurt Angle as Gable trained Maxine Dupri.
I knew the basics about Eddie Graham and Florida Championship Wrestling. Thought “Dark Side of the Ring” did a compelling and compassionate job telling the very difficult story about the string of suicides, including him, among the men in his family.
Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are trying to challenge CM Punk and FTR for best real-life buddie tag team aren’t they?
Match to Watch
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Forbidden Door (Sunday, 8 p.m., Bleacher Report)
There are certain matches we at one point probably never thought we’d see and given Danielson’s retirement and time in WWE, this was one. But now we get two of the best to ever do it in a ring together still at the peak of their wrestling powers. Get your stars ready and something to keep your jaws up.
Wrestler of the Week
Skye Blue, AEW
Blue, 23, is being slowly and properly built as a young babyface. After her surprise No. 1 contender win on June 9, her mom got spray-painted ringside by The Outcasts last Wednesday before AEW women’s champion Toni Storm defeated her with the ref distracted. Blue then got a win in her hometown of Chicago on Collision in a tag match with Willow Nightingale over Storm and Ruby Soho. The rocket pack has been strapped.
