The months of speculation ended as soon as Collision, All Elite Wrestling’s new Saturday night television show, went live on the air, as CM Punk made his way down to the ring in his hometown of Chicago to kickoff the show.
The original tagline of the debut of Collision was rumored to be “the second coming,” a nod to Punk’s arrival in AEW nearly two years ago in the same city. When Punk’s participation was speculated to be in doubt in recent weeks with the disagreement of the involvement of Ace Steel as a backstage producer, the tagline was scrapped.
However, the tagline should’ve been “self-serving Punk” because that’s all his 10-minute promo was to start the Collision brand. The narrative of CM Punk claiming to be the victim when he isn’t catered to or given the spotlight is as tired as the revolving stories about how difficult he is to work with.
While an ESPN interview that was published Friday had the real-life Phil Brooks portraying himself as the one to extend an olive branch to The Elite after their backstage brawl last September, claiming that he didn’t see the locker room fight as a big deal and had attempted to mend fences before he was legally told he couldn’t, the promo he cut on live television reveals a very different intention.
I wrote about the entire saga extensively since the infamous press conference last year as the situation continued to develop with rumors and social media posts from Punk, and more or less everyone has offered an opinion on it at some point so I will attempt to keep the portions of this discussion that refer to previous incidents to a minimum to maintain a focus on what this means for AEW in the future.
Brooks started the promo by reiterating that he was in the pro wrestling business, and in theory, he’s correct, the sports entertainment business, especially on a national level is about revenue and profit. There was a time, specifically before the hefty amount of guaranteed cash from broadcast rights fees became so lucrative through the evolution of the distribution of media content, that personal grudges were put aside to draw money. If performers had a disagreement, it didn’t interfere with the business side of the industry because the ability to work together allowed everyone to make the most money possible. That being said, when he had a live mic in his hand for the first time since he publicly buried the company at the press conference last year, he made a reference to the same thing he said before the locker room fight. Is repeating something that he said that initiated the backstage fight really a smart “business” move? Unless, there’s an Elite feud planned, and by all indications there isn’t, why should Brooks make reference to something that ultimately garnered the organization a wave of negative publicity?
The answer is probably simple, Punk wanted to make sure he “got the last word” on the incident so that he can think he “won” in the entire situation.
He went on to say that he’s “tired of being nice,” which appeared to be a reference to the fact that he claims he tried to make peace with The Elite until lawyers were involved in the matter. Again, this is Phil Brooks portraying himself as the better person willing to bury the hatchet. He continued when he said that he loves the fans because they love him, and the whole scenario was almost nauseating since it was Brooks on an ego trip. He was in his hometown where he will face zero backlash from the audience and got the chance to give himself all the credit he thought deserved with blatant pandering to the crowd.
He said that some people hate him, which was nothing more than Brooks taking the victim stance, something that he has done throughout his career when he wasn’t given the spotlight. Remember the temper tantrum he threw on Colt Cabana’s podcast that resulted in lawsuits?
Continuing, Punk said that some people are uncomfortable by the “sheer magnitude” of him. Who does this guy honestly think he is? Could his ego seriously be that inflated? Granted, it’s a pro wrestling promo so it could be a work, but if it was, where’s the payoff for any of this? This all sounded very similar to when he went off-script to call out Adam Page in a promo when there was no angle booked for it. Punk remarked “you know I’m right” at one point, but what exactly did this accomplish? Sure, he got the chance to get a rebuttal to The Elite on national television, but if he’s in the pro wrestling business that he claims, what business was done with this valuable national television time? Again, unless there’s an angle for CM Punk vs. The Elite, how does this 10-minute promo translate into money?
Before closing, he proclaimed he’s the real article in a business of counterfeit Bucks, a jab at Matt and Nick Jackson before he “apologized” to the fans that are as soft as their favorite wrestlers. He finished the segment with saying, “the king is back” and barely made reference to a bag that he brought to ringside where he implied it was the original AEW world championship. If the angle is going to be CM Punk vs. MJF for the world championship, it’s a wise move because their dog collar match proved to be one of the better matches with one of the better storylines in the history of the company. That being said, CM Punk spent very little of the 10-minute promo selling that potential match because Phil Brooks, he claimed he wanted to bury the hatchet during the ESPN interview, wanted to make sure he got the final word on the All Out brawl on national TV.
If Warner Brothers Discovery wants to pay for the CM Punk show where he gets to finally position himself as the top level guy he always thinks he should always be then great. If AEW makes a profit from the existence of the a show that will more or less be Punk’s place to give himself credit then in some ways, it’s mission accomplished because profit is profit. In fact, speaking of profit, if The Elite were true pros then they would agree to work with CM Punk since that’s the most money that can be made with AEW right now. At the same time, when Punk said at the press conference if anyone has a problem with him then they can go to him for it, he can’t try to play the victim card when someone did actually confront him. The Elite didn’t hang it well either, specifically when they rallied the crowd during anti-CM Punk chants during their return to pay-per-view several months ago.
However, the bottom line is, while immature, The Elite’s antics weren’t spotlighted or as direct as CM Punk on Collision. Don’t get me wrong, CM Punk is a major star that can draw and audience, but Chicago was an easy fan base for him. Punk is a big star, but he’s not on the level of Stone Cold, The Rock, or Mick Foley, and that’s not meant as a knock, considering that very few stars are on par with that trio. Basically, Punk isn’t a big enough star to be catered to like this, but if he isn’t, there’s a track record that shows how difficult he is to work with, a narrative of his career from prior to his arrival in AEW.
Unfortunately, the promo on Collision proved what should’ve already be known, CM Punk is about CM Punk so the scenario with him as the face of the Saturday night show will keep him happy until it doesn’t. After that, there will be another situation where Punk will serve himself, not the company so it would be wise for Tony Khan to consider how much stock his should put into CM Punk as the top star of the company.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram & Facebook @jimlamotta89
