AEW All Out: The 10 best matches and moments that define the journey to become CM Punk’s “Best in the World”.

Wrestling fans have waited more than seven years to return to the CM Punk wrestling ring. The wait ended on Sunday night Payment for the AEW All Out view, Punk will face young star Darby Allin in one of the biggest games in AEW history.

Seven years is a long time. Young men of legal drinking age today were obsessed with the premieres of the latest films in the tetralogy The Hunger Games, when Punk’s career ended in 2014. Instead of the “milk box challenge,” the claws of the “ice bucket challenge” that still existed on the Internet were spent that summer fighting fans wondering if one of the top stars was definitely gone.

The following year they brought rumors of Punk’s return, a return that was rooted in the hopes of the fans rather than any tangible evidence that was actually given.

Then came the first real national competitor to the AEW and WWE product who stole the joy he found in the fight for Punk. Suddenly, the opportunity to fight punk seemed realistic again. It was two years since AEW was founded, but it finally appeared in the August 20 episode of Punk Chicago’s AEW Rampage, officially announcing that it would return to fighting in front of the hometown crowd.

The return, the reactions, and the perfect tones that followed immediately reminded me that he remains as good as anyone in Punk history to create iconic moments of struggle.

As we prepare to embark on the next era of Punk’s career, let’s look at the opponents and moments that have defined his already legendary career.

Competition with Chris Hero

Punk’s early career was defined by his time with Colt Cabana or his teammates, especially his best first friend and intern in Steel Domain, a series of matches with Chris that he considered an essential attraction for Punk. The hero. Hero and Punk built a spectacular competition in the Indiana-based IWA Mid-South South, which saw VHS tapes face off in games that became hugely successful for retailers and collectors, including nearly an hour-long tables, ladders and chairs and a 93-minute match. ironman game.

The rivalry between Punk and Hero would become important names in the era of independent wrestling and Punk would be in a position to appear throughout the region against another long list of future WWE stars.

Bloody ring of honor with Raven

The ring of honor was launched in 2002 as a promotion of the famous independent fight, promoting independent rise, as the promotion encouraged the gathering of the best unsigned fighters in the world for shows that showed top-down action. In 2003, Punk became a heel for promotion and got into a long feud with Raven. The Raven feud was the focus of ROH programming and allowed Punk to give greater exposure to the direct heel nature, based on Punk’s real life, as someone who doesn’t drink alcohol or fight drugs and fight drugs against Raven. abuse in his past.

Punk and Raven would fight between some bloody matches, including a game of dog collars and plenty of matches inside a steel cage. In a larger scenario than ever before, Punk demonstrated not only compelling fighting games, but also the ability to lead a story as a character.

America’s first five-star game in seven years

Punk would continue to be one of the main stars of ROH for years, eventually getting into a clash with then-champion Samoa Joe. The pair competed in a three-game series, and the first two games ended in a 60-minute tie before Joe scored in the third game. The rivalry is even more pronounced for the production of the first American game to receive five stars in seven years at the hands of veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. This distinction was given to the second in a three-game series.

Punk summer

Punk would sign a deal with WWE in 2005 and apparently close out his ROH career with Austin Aries ROH champion Death Before Dishonor III. Rather than the expected result, as Punk lost his WWE career and progressed, Punk won the tournament and began to look for ROH locker rooms and fans. The top of the ROH tournament. Punk’s Summer, as it was known, was a wild ride to end Punk’s ROH career, confusing the reality of his outing with unexpected twists, which would later be revisited somewhat during WWE’s famous “Pipe Bomb”.

Winning First Money in the Bank and winning the WWE Championship

After a failed attempt by the WWE to revive the ECW brand – which marked him as an ECW champion with Punk – Punk finally reached the top of the WWE when he won the WrestleMania 24. Money in the Bank match. continue to win the Raw tournament contract, wait until the Batistas Edge set up the ring and wait before their Go to Sleep finish to win the main WWE tournament. The reign of the title will be forgettable especially, 69 days before Randy Orton’s attack forced him to lose the championship.

World Heavyweight Championship with Jeff Hardy

At WrestleMania 25, Punk won Money in the Bank for the second time. Once again, he would get a successful contract, this time defeating Jeff Hardy to win the world heavyweight championship. This would lead to a new era of punk as a heel, calling Raven back to her ECW rivalry as she pushed her straight life while struggling with a man with a long history of substance abuse. The reign of the title would do much more than establish itself as a major Punk event player and the clash with Hardy would lead to a couple of title changes and some memorable games, better than the main SummerSlam 2009 TLC event, which Punk won for recovery. tournament.

“The Pipe Bomb” and John Cena Money in the Bank in 2011

In 2011, Punk became increasingly frustrated with his time in the WWE, and like the summer of punk, he blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. Before playing Money in the Bank with John Cena, Punk delivered what would become known as “The Pipe Bomb.” During this promotion, Punk dared to talk about WWE fans, fighters and management while vowing to win the WWE Championship before leaving the company. The promotion introduced a new life to WWE, attracted the attention of expired fans and gave the WWE programming a new sense of surprise.

As Punk and Cena continued to fight, with money in the Bank, the best matches of the two men’s careers made things even better. Punk would win the tournament, defying hopes again when his contract was coming to an end. Of course, he would sign a new agreement and continue to appear as the main event.

434 days champion

Punk won the championship again in October 2011, beating Alberto Del Rio in the Survivor Series. That victory marked the 434th day that would be the longest title in modern WWE history. That record would eventually be broken by Brock Lesnar in 2018, but it was an amazing achievement at a time when the dominance of long titles was unusual. Punk defended his title against an impressive list of opponents, but joined new “defender” Paul Heyman until his title ended at the hands of The Rock in the 2013 Royal Rumble.

A shot at The Undertaker’s WrestleMania line

Reducing your punk career to 10 games, moments, or outstanding accomplishments means skipping a lot of huge things. Whether Punk is the head of the Straight Edge Society or competing with Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar can easily make a list like that. However, The Undertaker’s WrestleMania line-up was a huge shot for Punk, especially as one of the biggest complaints about Punk’s time in the WWE was that he was never given the chance to be the biggest event on the fight calendar show.

Punk and Undertaker put on a classic at WrestleMania 29, putting the best game on the card far and wide. Punk didn’t get the honor of breaking Undertaker’s legendary undefeated line at WrestleMania – he was going to Lesnar next year – but he did establish his place in WrestleMania history, even though it was never considered a major event.

Return from retirement to AEW

All the rumors and all the waiting ended in August when Punk returned to Chicago. It took him a short time to deliver a classic promotion, explaining that he had retired from the official fight in his head the day he left the WWE Ring of Honor and was now returning to where he felt his passion would go. That old magic of CM Punk was back and we’ll see what it still has in Sunday’s All Out.