“I’m back.”
The famous two word fax that was sent by Chicago legend Michael Jordan has now been replicated by a Chicago legend of a different sport.
Chicago’s own CM Punk has returned to professional wrestling after seven years off. Punk would appear on the first edition of AEW Rampage to a THUNDEROUS reaction from his hometown crowd at the United Center in Chicago. Just listen to this reaction! Punk even dove into the crowd…
In the world of pro wrestling, hometowns typically don’t mean much. That has never been the case for CM Punk. In fact, you could argue that no other wrestler has consistently had more thunderous reactions in front of their hometown crowd than CM Punk has had in front of Chicago crowds. At 2011’s Money In The Bank, Punk had one of the most eruptive entrances of all time in front of his Chicago crowd before his championship match with John Cena.
After having an ugly breakup with WWE in 2014, Punk would go on to make comments stating that he would never return to professional wrestling, and that he had no passion remaining at the time he left. Now, seven years later, the landscape of professional wrestling has changed. WWE now has a legitimate contender in AEW.
Rumors of Punk’s return to wrestling by joining AEW had been swirling for months, leading his eventual return to now be dubbed “the worst kept secret of all time” by AEW’s President Tony Kahn.
During his hiatus from pro wrestling, Punk would embark on a professional MMA career, where he signed on with the UFC. Punk would notoriously lose his first and only 2 fights in the octagon, although one of those fights would later go on to be overturned into a no-contest.
Now, seven years after his retirement from professional wrestling, Punk is back in an organization that didn’t even exist when he left. During his first mic time in AEW, Punk would mention “I was never gonna get healthy physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally staying in the same place that got me sick in the first place”, alluding to his relationship with WWE.
Punk would end his promo by calling out AEW’s Darby Allin for AEW’s upcoming PPV “All Out” taking place September 5 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL.
