Glenryck Pilchards Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 The simplicity of it is what made the segment. AEW gave Punk 20 minutes to do what he wanted to do. The commentary team allowed the pictures to tell the story and when they did speak it was concise and did not takeover the narrative. You just know if he returned to WWE within 10 seconds Cole would have screamed "Oh my! Could it be?" and someone would have interrupted Punk halfway through his promo. The only slight criticism I had with it was some of the cuts were badly timed for example the t-shirt reveal. It has been a common problem in AEW and hopefully that can be improved going forward. These fuckers better be touring the UK soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Didn’t even think about the announcers stepping back and not talking over. Makes such a difference to big moments in AEW that you get allowed to decide it’s a big deal than it being rammed down your throat that you have to see it as a big deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted August 21, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2021 It was exactly what it needed to be. For all the fantasy booking beforehand at the end of the day all we really needed was a crowd reaction like that and the man speaking from the heart. It was perfect. AEW creates genuine feel good moments almost weekly now and that was an all timer. Seeing CM Punk of all people tearing up and ecstatic jumping into fans...just great. The rest of the show was really fucking good too. A really fun tag match, a strong squash match and a really good short match to end the show with the Super Friends together again kicking ass and looking cool. Danny Garcia has potential, hopefully he continues to improve and puts on some muscle and they can come back to him in a year or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 21, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2021 Don’t follow AEW at all but I just caught a little clip of Punk walking out on Twitter and that crowd reaction was insane. Could barely even hear ‘Cult Of Personality’ because they were so loud. I’ve never been a Punk fan or warmed to him at all but it was one of those moments that made me remember why I love wrestling. Can’t remember the last time I heard a crowd like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted August 21, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2021 Outstanding. They had to get him out the blocks, those fans wouldnt have stopped all night. Its just utterly mad, Is this AEW scott hall moment? time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Even Brock Lesnar Guy in the front row doing Dravid Brent-esque looks to the camera didn't ruin it too much for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuperBacon Posted August 21, 2021 Members Share Posted August 21, 2021 Can't remember the last time I actually got an erection (prime OOC) watching wrestling. Elizabeth in the early 90s maybe? Fuck me what a pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 51 minutes ago, mim731 said: That was fine. Totally fine. Great pop and a really nice moment. I'm not a huge Punk fan, and I didn't love the promo but the crowd made that a brilliant moment. I don't see Punk necessarily being the game changer that others seem to think he is, but the cumulative effect with Bryan, Christian, as well as the existing roster gaining momentum every week could certainly make a difference. You sir have a heart of stone. Also, people need to stop pairing CM Punk with Christian. If you don’t see the difference between the two you’re being needlessly difficult or trying too hard. That was as good as wrestling can get. I agree with Rick on that. I usually judge people for crying in the audiences of wrestling shows, but I totally got that. Particularly given the shit couple of years everyone’s had. Seeing a full room of people going fucking ballistic in a moment of shared joy was absolutely tremendous. The connection CM Punk has with his audience is really special. There’s so many interactions I want to see him have. Besides the tired eyes, which he’s always had, I thought he looked in good shape too. One seat on the CM Punk hype train again please… just a separate carriage to Ric Flair, yeah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaaaaad! Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Sometimes, just sometimes, it's fine to give everyone exactly what they want. This is absolutely one of those times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev2050 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 I thought it was a cracking promo, I can't see what else he could have done that would have been better, I'd have to really be nit picking. Amazing crowd, amazing promo, amazing return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 The best bit was obviously the spontaneous stage dive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamicazze Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) What a great return. The entrance alone was worth it, a run in would have ruined that entrance. Promo was great, from the heart and he said he's got some stories to tell though he has time. Draws the audience in for future. Particularly liked that he wished he'd had those guys around him 10 years ago, but they're there now. This is a bit of a game changer. The guy walked out of the other place and they couldn't entice him back. He wouldn't come back to the business let alone them and here he is. Makes AEW feel big time. Â Plus does it pave the way for AJ Lee to join the women's division. Edited August 21, 2021 by kamicazze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 One more point after watching it for the 50th time. They made him feel like a star. He felt like how he should feel. The interaction with Darby was done perfect and didn't take away from anything (Also Punk saying Sting got me buzzed I cannot lie) What a moment. It felt like something massive. Delivered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted August 21, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2021 Best moment of the night: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffer Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Two weird feelings I had at the start: 1. I know the tune is Living Colour, and the name CM Punk belongs to him, but it was so audacious and mental seeing someone like that come out to their full WWE identikit, pretty much. Someone at Stamford must be fuming. 2. When he said "Bad news and good news" I thought he was initially going to be hired to do some commentary or be some sort of multitasking brand ambassador, wherein the hype train just got way too out of control then and him and Khan had to ad hoc some passage into him being a performer again. Two thumbs up from me, though. Gave them what they wanted, and left them wanting more. Booking 101. Buzzing for this company so much right now. And as @cobra_gordo said, the fact that Darby and Sting had time in all of that to look cool as fuck didn't go down too badly either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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