Punk spoke from the heart. I loved it. Such a humanizing promo. That's why Punk is so good.

I have to say. My whole life I was PRO WWE. Always about WWE. Fuck WCW. Fuck ECW. Fuck TNA.

As I got older and hearing all these horror stories of how Vince treats and treated people, I think it resonated with me and my job. What Khan is doing with AEW is special. All these guys coming to AEW to do what they love to do and ENJOY it really resonates with me.

It’s official.

AEW.... > WWE.

Punk at the post show presser summed it up best really. When he left RoH he left prowrestling and went into sports entertainment. Now he wants AEW to be what RoH used to be, a place that focuses on wrestling first and foremost.

There a lot of guys from other places, CHIKARA, PWG, RoH, ect at AEW now that really want a wrestling promotion that is not about top down sports entertainment. And people are def reacting to things like workers creating their own gimmicks, matches that are left to talent, and a willingness to try new things.

And some of the experiments are paying off already. Picture in picture commercials for instance is genius. One off special talent is generally seen as a great thing. Deals with TNA, NWA and NJPW worked well for all parties. Sure a bunch of things also failed completely, like the Brandy's stable and the explosion match, but more good than bad these days.

They have me paying for, and watching full wrestling shows again! Friday night is a crap time for me (hence why I'm making this post two days later) but a one hour wrestling show is exactly what I want in 2021. I could do without Mark Henry on commentary but he's easy enough to ignore.

Punk's return was just epic. You guys have summed it up perfectly by talking about it being a generational moment. I love KITN's take on it the most - finally we have a promotion that doesn't actively hate us. People were posting before hand worried that this would underdeliver or they'd do something stupid with it - I had confidence and was rewarded. Truly an all time pop and I think a really special moment of catharsis for wrestling fans, and most importantly for Punk who has been through the ringer in recent times. It is going to be a special ride over the next couple of years to see his final chapter.

I thought the tag match wasn't great. The heat section was especially dull and slow which was not necessary for a relatively short match, and then they started busting out some ridiculously over the top spots, including that SSP to the outside which completely missed. I can see why Todd isn't a fan of Private Party. A doomsday Canadian Destroyer should be the end of any match.

Jade vs Kiera was much too short - perhaps a victim of Punk's segment running long - but again just another example of the women in AEW getting shortchanged. I think they've reached a point where things like that hurt rather than help Jade. They'd just made Kiera look relatively strong in matches against Shida & Statlander so it was really rather a waste.

The main event was really solid. I think everyone can see that Daniel Garcia is an exciting and unique talent, and I love these short rugged TV matches that Moxley does. Between the submission exchanges and the snug strike offs this felt like a real fight and that stands out in a promotion where guys are often doing a lot of OTT stuff. If you want to be super critical then they are pushing their luck a little bit with 2.0 getting destroyed easily by Sting twice in a week - but I get the feeling that those guys are happy to play the goofy heels and don't need a whole lot of legitimacy.

2.0 are working with Sting. They are likely on cloud 9. They never been a team that really was defined as wins or losses and usually they just like to tell weird stories in the ring that usually end with them losing. Sooner or later they will be champs, but they are much better used as the heel team that keeps punching too far up.

Aug 22, 2021 0:37:54 GMT KING KID said:

I have to say. My whole life I was PRO WWE. Always about WWE. Fuck WCW. Fuck ECW. Fuck TNA.

As I got older and hearing all these horror stories of how Vince treats and treated people, I think it resonated with me and my job. What Khan is doing with AEW is special. All these guys coming to AEW to do what they love to do and ENJOY it really resonates with me.

It’s official.

AEW.... > WWE.

Vince say it aren’t so! 😱

While I don't think the entire industry was shaken this past weekend, the momentum has however, shifted in AEW's favour.

Now, AEW needs to move beyond 'this was a cool moment' and really capitalise while WWE is on a downward free-fall. Summerslam was a trainwreck, NXT 36 wasn't a game-changer and NXT is being rebooted next week as an antithesis to independent wrestling. A lot of disgruntled WWE fans are likely seeing AEW for the first time this weekend.

This was D-Day with the Allies storming the beach. The war is long from over. They've now got to liberate Paris.

This was the Outsiders going to WCW basically. AEW def needs to get more serious with their storylines if you wish to keep lapsed fans. Some will like the indy moves, but for WWE fans who just checked out AEW, they need angles and reasons to get really invested in people. Outside of Hangman, not sure anyone really has a angle that makes you REALLY care about them. Britt a little, but they did not keep momentum going since her unsanctioned match.

That said, there are a lot of old timers in AEW who have been part of really emotional angles, so hopefully they will get it through to whoever is booking things need to change.

Despite my mixed feelings about him, Punk is FINALLY back and so am I when it comes to watching wrestling again on a weekly basis. That promo was absolutely perfect.

I haven't been this hyped for a roster since WWE started signing AJ, Nakamura and co. but this is on a completely different level.

Too many times before it's seemed like just like Cody and the boys giving themselves the rub. But not just with Punk but signing Bryan too, AEW feels like it's finally competing with WWE.

Fuck the WWE. I'm here for this.

Edit: With that all being said, time for them to stop roleplaying WCW and take this momentum seriously. STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT!!!!

If anyone is interested, today's episode of Being the Elite starts with backstage footage of CM Punk as his music hits. It's pretty cool. It's on youtube if you wanna see it.

Tony Khan oozing with confidence and excitement. Love seeing a cocky Tony Khan.

Tony Khan stays flexing on the hoes.

Punk drew AEW’s second highest rating in a bad timeslot on a bad night. The record is going to go Wednesday. Dynamite is going to beat Raw 18-49 next week.

If you would have told me 10 years ago 2.0. would be getting their asses kicked by Sting, I would have laughed my ass off. Wild stuff, man.

Aug 23, 2021 21:22:05 GMT Todd said:

Punk drew AEW’s second highest rating in a bad timeslot on a bad night. The record is going to go Wednesday. Dynamite is going to beat Raw 18-49 next week.

Nice. During his segment the show drew a 1.7 in the key 18-49 demo in Chicago. A 1.2 overall. On basic cable, in a slot that wasn’t Primetime. My man.

The August 20th 2021 episode of AEW Rampage, featuring the debut of CM Punk, drew 1,129,000 viewers with 692,000 (0.53 rating) in the 18-49 demo and the show finished 2nd for the night on cable television. The first quarter hour with CM Punk appearing drew 1,341,000 viewers with a 842,000 (0.65 rating) in the 18-49 demo. Including Dynamite episodes, Friday’s Rampage was the 4th most watched AEW television show on TNT to date.

Someone did the math on the 1.7 18-49 in Chicago and that works out to 1 in every 58 people aged 18-49 with cable in the Chicago area were watching. That's pretty crazy.

Apparently PWT has bought up every available ringer t-shirt in North America to fulfil the demand for the new Punk shirt. And there were people saying that he wouldn't move the needle. :lol:

Aug 24, 2021 2:26:51 GMT @admin said:

Apparently PWT has bought up every available ringer t-shirt in North America to fulfil the demand for the new Punk shirt. And there were people saying that he wouldn't move the needle. :lol:

In 72 hours he set the record for most t-shirts sold. The old record holder? Bullet Club. They held the record for 7 years while Punk was gone.

In fucking sane.

Acknowledge him.

Aug 24, 2021 2:21:34 GMT RT said:

Someone did the math on the 1.7 18-49 in Chicago and that works out to 1 in every 58 people aged 18-49 with cable in the Chicago area were watching. That's pretty crazy.

The rating number refers to the percentage of the all people with cable that watches the show

When Raw was pulling 4+ that meant 4 percent of cable owners were watching it.  Which seems insane.

Aug 24, 2021 2:31:43 GMT RT said:

Aug 24, 2021 2:26:51 GMT @admin said:

Apparently PWT has bought up every available ringer t-shirt in North America to fulfil the demand for the new Punk shirt. And there were people saying that he wouldn't move the needle.

In 72 hours he set the record for most t-shirts sold. The old record holder? Bullet Club. They held the record for 7 years while Punk was gone.

In fucking sane.

He outsold the classic bullet club shirt, which is utterly insane.

I really wonder, if the Prince asks Vince to bring Punk to the Saudi show, would WWE even reach out? If they do, god I hope they record the conversations.

Aug 24, 2021 2:26:51 GMT @admin said:

Apparently PWT has bought up every available ringer t-shirt in North America to fulfil the demand for the new Punk shirt. And there were people saying that he wouldn't move the needle. :lol:

He was always going to move the needle within the existing audience they have. The question is whether he can entice more people to try AEW, and whether or not they’ll like it when they do. The jury is still out on that. If he doesn’t, eventually this will settle down and the impact he’ll have will be short term, which would be a waste. So I would say look at the ratings after All Out, and the buy rate for Full Gear, to see if he’s had a substantial impact beyond the hype for his return.

Booker is 1000% correct, Punk's speech was great besides the WWE stuff. Should be above it and be 1000% laser focused on everything AEW and everything moving forward. Especially when he tucked his tail and signed with FOX to be apart of a failed WWE talk show.

Booker T overreacts to return of legend.

I feel like Punk had to address WWE because they are part of his career journey and he needed to clear the air and let the fans know he didn’t leave because of them. This was his return promo after being gone 7 years so of course he was going to talk about WWE in some fashion. I thought his lines were tamed compared to what they could’ve been and took up only a brief portion of his 10 minute promo. I think from this point forward he will focus on AEW and helping the talent they have there as he alluded to towards the end of his promo.

Booker needs thicker skin.

The Road to All Out video posted today has a pretty cool look at CM Punk's entrance. You see the live entrance but with a shot of the production truck and the audio of the director calling the shots. It's kind of neat.

Also some old footage of Christian vs Lance Storm from IWA. This is worth the 12 minutes.

Really fascinating to see just how much effort and passion goes into the production. Love seeing them celebrate when they know they've got a money shot like the guy crying in the crowd.

I love the idea that Don had already chosen 10 year old Kenny to be his protege and held down Christian to protect his own spot. That's tremendous backstory and adds a lot to this storyline.

Damn kind of want a full show of the production crew.


Punk had to address why he walked away.  He could have done it differently, sure, but that was not about WWE, but about him.  Why he left wrestling.  And it is stupid that WWE is made he said he left professional wrestling when he left RoH.  WWE claims repeatedly they are sports entertainment and not prowrestling, but something more.  And again it was not about WWE, but about working with a group that reminded him of RoH and when he was happy wrestling.  The world does not revolve around WWE, but they always seem to take it as such.  

That said, I hope he drops the WWE talk, because frankly, it is not needed.  AEW does not need to talk about them, they need to build themselves as their own brand and promote that brand while ignoring what WWE is doing.  You are not getting WWE fans to tune in by telling your crowd, that is already watching your product how you are different.  They already know.

Super curious what is up for tomorrow.  Dragon can appear whenever still, Punk will appear, Cole and Bray could be teased.  AEW did what WWE really always wanted to do, recaptured that attitude era of tuning in just because you do not know what is going to happen but if something cool does, you want to be there.

Lineup for tomorrow is:

Aleister Black vs. Brock Anderson
Jamie Hayter vs. Red Velvet
The Varsity Blonds vs. Lucha Brothers  semifinal match
Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy
Gunn Club vs The Factory (Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto and QT Marshall) - Wight on commentary to fuck up QT
Mox, Kingston and Allin vs The Wingmen (JD Drake, Cezar Bononi and Ryan Nemeth) and likely 2.0 and Garcia
Jericho talks about his future.
Punk does Punk things.

Looks like AEW is going to lean heavy into trios stuff.  Hope they do a belt for it.  Also wild they give the full card.  Digging this as should the card suck, know you can just do highlights.