New Japan's Kenta Calls Out AEW's CM Punk After Winning the IWGP United States Championship

By Connor Casey

Ever since CM Punk returned to the wrestling world as a member of the AEW roster, New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenta has been calling out the former WWE Champion to a match. On Saturday he took things one step further, winning the IWGP United States Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Power Struggle event in Osaka. He then called Punk out in the post-show press conference. 

"IWGP United States Champion, I don't know if you guys remember what I said when I came to New Japan, 2019," Kenta said. "I said I'm here to prove who I am. After three years, I finally prove who the f— I am baby. I'm the United States Champion, it doesn't matter if it's going to happen or not. But I just want to entertain you guys. I want to give you guys a home. Hey CM Punk! I'm ready to put you (to) sleep."

Kenta previously invaded AEW during his feud with Jon Moxley earlier this year, leading to Mox successfully defending his US title against him at the New Beginning event in February. Moxley finally dropped the US title to Lance Archer on an episode of Dynamite over the summer, who then promptly lost it to Tanahashi. 

Punk has only wrestled five times for AEW so far, though he hasn't shut down the idea of appearing in other companies.

"I'm both feet in on AEW, but I know a bunch of New Japan guys wind up coming over and wrestling on AEW Dynamite and Rampage. I'm not adverse to the idea, but I know they're in the throws of their G1 and stuff like that, so I don't know if they can spare the guys," Punk said while on The Rich Eisen Show recently (h/t Cultaholic). "And I think because of the pandemic, you don't see a whole lot of travel from America to Japan. I definitely think you'd have to do a hard quarantine once you got to Japan, and I just don't think that's a viable option at this point. I gotta do that when I kick acting gigs, and that's hard enough. To be in Japan for two weeks sitting in a hotel, I'd probably lose my mind. But I'm for sure interested."

Do you think AEW is getting closer to a Punk vs. Kenta crossover match? Let us know in the comments below!

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