CM Punk Believes His AEW Debut Was the Greatest Moment of His Career

CM Punk’s return to pro wrestling at AEW Rampage this past Friday drew in massive ratings for AEW and set new sales records for Pro Wrestling Tees. But for the WWE Champion, the night may just go down as his favorite in his pro wrestling career. Punk appeared on ESPN Chicago’s Kap & J. Hood on Monday to reflect on his appearance at the United Center, saying (h/t Wrestling Inc.), “That might have been the greatest moment, the greatest night of my career. Just the entire night couldn’t have gone more perfect. The way we set it up as the worst kept secret, selling out the United Center on the rumor that I was going to be there, never announced, never advertised. It shows the connection to the fanbase that AEW has, that they get it, right? They want to be involved, they want to be entertained, they want to go up to shows and have a good time.

“So we didn’t feel the need to beat them over the head to get a TV rating. And don’t get me wrong, I know executives at TNT love their ratings,” he added. “But to me pro wrestling has always been about moments and getting people to feel something. It was the perfect storm, the perfect night.”

Punk continued — “The way I debuted, everybody being super positive backstage,” Punk said. “I met so many new people, having my family with me, I could go on and on. It was the perfect night and the perfect moment for so many reasons. And I’m just talking personally. Publicly I think it’s a smashing success.”

During his post-show media conference call late Friday night, Punk was asked to compare his AEW debut to his WWE Championship win at Money in the Bank 2011, arguably the biggest highlight of his WWE career.

“This (Tonight) felt more organic,” Punk said. “Everything I ever did prior to being here felt like a fight, and it kind of squeezed the life out of some stuff. This was a joyful moment that was just like, it didn’t need to get over-produced. It didn’t need everybody’s input. It just needed a few select peoples’ input and just an understanding that it’s pro wrestling. We don’t need to slick it up and lacquer it and shine it up too much. It needed to be real. So to compare the two moments, this one did not feel like a job.”