CM Punk’s seven-year sabbatical from wrestling ended Friday night on All Elite Wrestling: Rampage with one of the biggest pops you’ll ever hear. Before his hometown fans in Chicago, an emotional Punk soaked up the crowd’s energy, acknowledged several family members ringside, and went into story time mode on what reignited his love for wrestling.
Surprisingly, Punk used his ’05 “Summer of Punk” departure from Ring of Honor as the starting point. He referenced his tears at the time were due to knowing his jump to WWE would be entering an environment which would test his passion for the business. For all intents and purposes, his love for wrestling “died” in that ROH ring.
According to Punk, August 21, 2021 marks the return of that love. He singled out a present Darby Allin as one of the young guys he sees carrying the torch of progressive pro wrestling. Allin will get the distinction of being Punk’s first opponent at next month’s All Out pay-per-view.
Watch Punk’s full entrance and promo below.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 