CM Punk Is Gonna Be at the All Out Starrcast

Punk is gonna yak about whatever's on his mind at Starrcast
Photo Credit: WWE.com

When you think of an All Elite Wrestling supershow, you also think of the gathering of wrestlers and wrestling media personalities that happens before it, Starrcast. Technically, Starrcast predates AEW, as it happened before All In, the promotion's precursor and one of the all-time greatest scams against a target (Ring of Honor) that deserved it. The convention has been more notable for who has gotten pulled off it, at least for the one before Double or Nothing. However, the folks running it caught a whopper for their third installment in advance of the All Out show Labor Day weekend, probably bigger in name currently than Undertaker, Kurt Angle, or Booker T, and the name is already fueling rumors of a return to wrestling. That's right, I'm talking about CM Punk.

Punk was announced yesterday, and already the takes are flying. The funniest ones are cringing preemptively about how bad he's going to trash Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque and WWE. Even though I doubt he has any new material that he didn't reveal in that infamous Art of Wrestling episode (a podcast which Colt Cabana yesterday announced was coming to an end this year, sad), I don't know why him playing the hits would be a bad thing. Regardless of how much of a throbbing dick you think Punk is, his grievances are legit, and WWE cannot get dragged enough for what it does to not only wrestlers but the wrestling industry. Besides, the guy has a way with words, so whatever he says will have the people at his booth in his thrall.

Of course, because people cannot leave very well enough alone, this appearance has already sparked rampant speculation as to whether he's making a wrestling comeback. If you had asked me around the time of All In, I'd have said no. Punk, by all accounts, sounded done with pro wrestling, and he was happy being a comic book writer and MMA flameout. However, he made a one-off appearance for Silas Young's MKE Wrestling earlier this year in a mask, where he ran into the ring, gave a wrestler the Go 2 Sleep in defense of Ace Steel and Dave Prazak, and left immediately. It's in line with things he's been saying about wrestling, that he wouldn't come back to a grind, but that he would make appearances here and there, when he saw fit, possibly masked wrestling his friends. It all lines up.

So what would it mean for him in AEW? Ironically, he'd probably be their Brock Lesnar if he wrestled for them at all, probably making an appearance here, a promo there, and if he ever was to work, probably a one-off match where he ended up putting Cody or Kenny Omega over at Double or Nothing II. Still, everything one would write about a potential Punk match feels like fantasy booking at its most outlandish. I can't stress enough that Punk returning to wrestling in a mainstream capacity would be the first seal of the Apocalypse breaking, and him returning full-time would be the seventh. To me, this Starrcast appearance feels like something he agreed to do because it was in his hometown, and he'd get a chance to make a few extra bucks.

That being said, his appearance is a good thing, as people still hold a place in their hearts for him. While the "CM PUNK" chants at WWE shows are less about him returning and more a protest about creative direction, people do not forget. Even though they're retired or unable to wrestle physically, people still love talking to the old-timers, hearing their stories, picking their brains. Punk isn't geriatric territory yet, but the memories of him are so fresh that people getting the chance to hear him talk frankly so close to his career make him even more in demand than, say, Lex Luger or Tully Blanchard (who is now managing Shawn Spears).