Believe me when I say I had another story put together for this week, but this story is an urgent one. You might be thinking, “Come on, Brie.” Do you not have anything better to report on other than that immature professional wrasslin?”
Well, yes. But once you hear the tales of an old man fighting the young, backstage fisticuffs and a major firing, you might have to remind yourself, that no, I am not talking about a typical UFC backstage brawl.
I am talking about a professional wrestling one that spans over a year with a hammer of the god firing.
So, yes, we interrupt this broadcast with something juicy!
The megaphone has officially run out of batteries, as CM Punk, notoriously known as “the voice of the voiceless,” officially lost his position in All Elite Wrestling, the second most prominent North American professional wrestling promotion, this past Saturday.
Punk (real name Phil Brooks), was to most fans, the heart and soul of All Elite Wrestling, as his debut on August 20, 2021, was the beginning of his comeback to the squared circle after leaving it in 2014.
Punk eventually rose to main event matches during his two-year stay with All Elite. He came away carrying the AEW World Championship twice before all hell broke loose in his professional career.
To backtrack for a brief moment, Punk was famously known as a straight-edge underdog who always reminded fans, promoters and his challengers that “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
His determined carefree attitude landed him in many highly acclaimed promotions, including Ring of Honor and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Although he already won over the fans throughout his WWE career, his combative ego came to life in 2011 when he made an on-air speech, which was dubbed the “pipe bomb.”
The “pipe bomb” was a shot at the WWE for the way he was treated as a second-class citizen when, at the time, he was the company’s pinnacle front runner.
What fans thought of as a world-class promo (an in-ring speech) was just a minor glimpse into the sad and aggressive attitude he had towards the professional wrestling business and the people who make it so rich.
The second coming of Punk’s “pipe bomb” came one year after signing with All Elite Wrestling on September 4, 2022.
On that date, All Elite held its annual pay-per-view event, “All Out,” in Chicago. Although there were some jaw-dropping moments in the ring, most, if not all, who watched, remembered the post-event interviews conducted and the vile comments Punk made towards the executive vice presidents of the company, his former friend turned antithesis, who was working for All Elite Wrestling at the time, and other rivals.
His words led to serious consequences in the back, as a big brawl broke out with chairs flung and people biting other people, just to name a few wild accounts reported.
Only dealing with a suspension and nursing an injury, Punk made his in-ring return nine months after the first brawl for all. It would only take two more months after his comeback to return to his vicious roots.
Two weeks ago, at “All In: London,” All Elite Wrestling’s biggest global pay-per-view event in history, things were going swimmingly until it was noted that Punk was back to his old ways of punching and potentially choking a co-worker.
Not only did he viciously attack his young co-worker, but he also lunged at the President of All Elite Wrestling, his boss, Tony Khan.
Khan, who rarely makes televised appearances, opened AEW’s weekly show, “Collision,” last Saturday, describing the unanimous decision to terminate Punk from the company.
But there was one thing he said that was eerily frightening and something rarely expressed outside of character.
“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. I’ve been producing them on this network for four years. Never in all that time have I ever felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show. I don’t feel anyone should feel that way at work,” Khan stated in his opening speech last Saturday.
Once upon a time on September 4, 2022, spectators thought Khan made the post-media interview at “All Out” a mountain out of a molehill since he played down the severity of Punk’s actions.
But now that the smoking mirrors have been cleared, and Khan has gone from fan to businessman, he is now seeing the ruthlessness we all took notice of a year prior with Punk.
As a former fan of Punk’s, I can honestly say the guy was a draw. He inspired a generation of fans to embrace our insecurities and the liberations that come with sticking it to the man.
What was once inspiration has turned to lust, as the man who used to carry a megaphone and shout from the rooftops for hopeful change is now the bitter old man who lives in the past and refuses to grow up.
Who would have thought Punk would literally become the “Aaron Rodgers of professional wrestling?”
Punk is, was and will forever be known as “The cult of unwanted personalities.”
Brie Coder can be reached at bmcoder@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.
