The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
It’s time for CM Punk to come home — to WWE.
That’s right, bring him back now. Don’t wait.
There won’t be a better moment for Punk to return to WWE — though it should come with some conditions — and here’s why.
WWE will be negotiating from a position of power with Punk. After all his reported backstage incidents and behavior that led to his firing with cause from AEW, Punk needs WWE way more than they need him with where the company’s business is right now and its sale to Endeavor complete.
Unless Punk decides to start his own promotion, this could be his last chance at a big stage in wrestling.
The buzz and attention for CM Punk’s return will never be higher — especially if you can legally pull it off in time for for Survivor Series at Allstate Arena in the Chicago area.
The emotions CM Punk’s fans feel toward AEW and The Elite will never be rawer, and WWE has a chance to capitalize on the rival company’s Punk experiment not working out.?
You should get a motivated CM Punk, eager to stick it to AEW, president Tony Khan and The Elite, to prove it’s not me, it’s them. If the reports are true, Punk had begun souring on AEW even before he returned to action in June. According to Fightful, Punk was open to a WWE return in December 2022 and wanted to work with Kevin Owens. Maybe, just maybe, Punk returns to the company with a greater appreciation that the way WWE does business might be better for him.
Punk, 44, handled things poorly in AEW, from taking his depute with the Young Bucks over Colt Cabana public and making Khan look terrible at the 2022 All Out press conference before the backstage brawl. Then he turned Jack Perry’s unnecessary comments on a pay-per-view into a physical confrontation backstage at All In. Punk was wrong for all of it. (He was right about Perry not using real glass, however.)
But let’s not act as if no one else was in the wrong here.
Matt and Nick Jackson and Kenny Omega could have acted more like executive vice presidents than talent in this situation and not let a conflict with one of AEW’s biggest money-makers get to this point. Unless we just haven’t heard about it, there should have been a sitdown to work out their issues before All Out 2022 or before Punk’s return. The decision to keep CM Punk and The Elite apart on Dynamite and Collision felt doomed to fail. Locker rooms can feel that tension. You are just ignoring the problem.
WWE should offer Punk a six-month contract with a clear creative plan through WrestleMania 40. Triple H has proven able to actually stick with what stories are laid out, and that should ease some tension with Punk. The short-term deal should also lessen the pushback from WWE stars who have an issue with Punk because it signals there is not a major commitment to him or crazy money involved. He needs to prove himself.
The merger with Endeavor also will offer Punk opportunities on the UFC side as a commentator or analyst, a role he already does for Cage Fury Fighting Championship. Maybe Punk gets a deal that combines both.
If it all works out, WWE can deliver a blow to how fans view AEW leadership, and if it doesn’t, it’s just CM Punk being CM Punk again, folks. WWE has handled worse messes, so it has little to lose in the long term.?????
So it’s time to bring CM Punk back because there won’t be a better time to do so.
(Ice) Cream of the Crop
After years of all of us watching the NXT meme, Samoa Joe and MJF finally having a promo battle was everything we could have hoped for: funny, biting, and breaking the fourth wall with references to ice cream trucks in “Twisted Metal”, Peacock, William Regal and NXT.
Joe being a true, vicious heel makes him feel like the perfect next foe for MJF, who perfectly sold the damage Joe has inflicted on his neck. MJF’s reign does feel in some peril because of the storyline injury and because he doesn’t need to hold he belt to face “real world champion” CM Punk anymore.
AEW then intertwined Adam Cole rushing to his aid against Joe, unlike what he did for friend Roderick Strong in the past, which adds another cool layer to the story. Joe vs. Strong in the final of the tournament to face MJF for the AEW championship at Grand Slam makes perfect sense.
Jax in Business
It seemed a matter of time before Nia Jax returned to WWE. After being released in 2021, Jax made a surprise return at the Royal Rumble earlier this year before showing up this week to cost Raquel Rodriguez her match against Rhea Ripley for the women’s world championship in the main event of “Monday Night Raw.” She is the company’s first signing since Vince McMahon’s return to power, and it came on the last show with McMahon in full ownership control of WWE.
Jax looks like she has her sights on Ripley’s title. She got booed as she laid waste to the champ in a post-match attack — even landing a Banzai Drop before slapping Ripley’s face. It seems very puzzling on the surface unless it leads to a triple-threat match at Fastlane. Ripley’s feud with Rodriguez still lacks closure. Also, the boos Jax got would make her an odd one-on-one opponent for a heel champ in Ripley.
The 10 Count
Shawn Michaels and NXT continue to show a willingness to push the envelope and try different things. The fade to black as Bron Breakker went to slam the ring steps on Von Wagner’s head — which has been at the center of his story — to end the show was another great example of giving fans something different than what they normally see. Like, “This is so brutal we can’t show it” and then following up by releasing shots on social media of Wagner bloody and being stretchered out.
Swerve Strickland delivered the best promo of his time in AEW on “Hangman” Adam Page. Strickland telling Page to either step up and get out of the backseat with The Elite or get out of his way felt like it came from Stephon Strickland and not the more cartoonish character we have seen. That’s that guy I want to see more of on TV, and he’s not wrong about Hangman, either.?
WWE really can’t find anything more interesting for Cody Rhodes to do to pass the time between now and Survivor Series?
While I do like Grayson Waller as a pairing, that Money in the Bank cash-in really did wonders for Austin Theory’s career and the United States championship. Now he is jobbing for L.A. Knight.
If this truly is the last year of Bryan Danielson’s career, with his daughter Birdie’s seventh birthday coming up in May, then please appreciate every moment. Because we are learning more and more watching him that he might be the best wrestler of this generation.
WWE continues to do a good job presenting this version of Asuka. I’m glad her long overdue dream match with Iyo Sky next week on SmackDown — after they were tag partners in the Triple Tails faction in Japan with Sky’s sister — has some stakes, being for the WWE women’s championship.
CJ Perry’s return and solid first promo make Miro more interesting than he’s ever been in AEW.
Chad Gable is taking the ball and running with it with another fantastic promo on Raw talking about putting a smile back on his daughter’s face by beating Gunther — who called him a terrible father — for the Intercontinental championship. It better be a matter of when and not if at this point.
AEW’s Grand Slam card, on paper, feels a lot bigger than what we got at All Out. We have added Jade Cargill’s return match for the TBS championship, Sammy Guevera vs. Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli for a chance to become a world champion in his hometown.
Can anyone else see Jey Uso needing to prove himself on a team with Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn against The Judgment Day at Survivor Series? Digging Jey’s story right now.
Extra: Not sure anyone had Tommy Dreamer, 52, as a singles champion in 2023. He won Impact’s Digital Media championship at Victory Road.
Wrestler of the Week
Samoa Joe, AEW
We have heard a lot about how Danielson and Jon Moxley have stepped up after the CM Punk fallout. It’s time to give Samoa Joe some credit, too. Joe got the match with Punk in the ring at All In. He has seamlessly stepped into an intriguing feud with MJF and had a great match with Penta in the main event of Collision last week. He could be in the Grand Slam main event, too. Add Joe to the AEW MVP list.
Match to Watch
Tiffany Stratton (c.) vs. Becky Lynch, NXT women’s championship (Tuesday, 8 p.m., USA)
Lynch has wrestled just one other NXT match since 2015, and she has never won the NXT women’s championship. It’s the biggest match and moment of Stratton’s young career. Lynch is a measuring stick in every way. Will Stratton measure up? And will WWE use this feud to cook up something new for Lynch on the main roster as well?
Around the Ring
NWA announced the spooktacular “Samhain” pay-per-view for Oct. 28 at Cleveland’s TempleLive
