AEW Rampage: The First Dance – CM Punk Debuts in AEW

The second episode of AEW Rampage aired tonight, and featured the much anticipated debut of CM Punk in AEW, and his official return to wrestling.

AEW Rampage opened with a huge reaction from the audience, and they immediately started chanting CM Punk.

Cult of Personality immediately hit, and CM Punk came out to an incredible reaction from the audience. Punk soaked in the cheers and was extremely emotional on the ramp. Punk came down the ramp and hugged fans, jumped into the audience and hugged everyone he could, and the crowd roared even louder. This is incredible.

This is one of the loudest reactions I have ever seen in wresting, and it isn’t even close. The fans started chanting, “Welcome Back!” The crowd continued to chat and pop for Punk, and it was absolutely amazing. Punk said that they made him feel like Britt Baker in Pittsburgh.

Punk said he didn’t know what he was going to say before he came out, but he knew he needed to feel it before he started talking. He said he felt and heard Chicago, and the crowd went nuts and chanted CM Punk again. Punk said he heard them for 7 years, and there is a lot to cover.

He said the bad news was that he couldn’t cover it all right now, but he’s got the time, because he isn’t going anywhere, and he is back in wrestling, Wednesdays, Fridays, and on PPV 4 times a year. Punk then said that if any the choices he made let them down, he wanted them to understand he was never was going to get healthy staying in the same place that got him sick in the first place.

Punk is an absolute master here, having the audience on every word. He felt before that he had to leave, and he left Ring of Honor in 2005. He made a place where people could come work, get paid, and love professional wrestling. He cried because he knew he was leaving a place he loved, and where he was going was not going to be easy for a guy like him, because he is one of us.

August 13, 2005 was the day Punk left professional wrestling, and August 20, 2021, he is back in professional wrestling. He said he was back for the fans. He is back for himself, but he is back for the young talent too, and he wished he was around them 10 years ago. He wanted to work with the young talent that has the same passion he had that was stamped out.

Punk then called out Darby Allin. Allin and Sting were in the rafters, and Punk said that he believed Allin was tough. Punk said he saw Darby do a lot of dangerous things, but there was nothing more dangerous that he could do than wrestle CM Punk live at AEW All Out. Punk said 7 years is a long time to wait for someone to come back, so he wanted everyone to grab a free ice cream bar on him. This was an unbelievable all time great segment of professional wrestling.

The third Summer of Punk has begun.

Christian Cage was with the Jurassic Express and he cut a promo saying that Young Bucks won’t be able to handle them when they win the tournament and face them in the cage.

Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy) w/ Matt Hardy (Hardy Family Office) vs. The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) w/ Marko Stunt

The Young Bucks came out to watch from the ramp, and it wasn’t long before Private Party were getting the heat on Jungle Boy. Taz and JR talked about how Matt Hardy was coaching them, but taking a lot of their money. Private Party hit Poetry in Motion on the floor to Jungle Boy, showing their learning from Matt Hardy.

Jungle Boy managed to bounce of fthe ropes and hit a clothesline then made the hot tag to Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus ran wild, smashing and throwing around Private Party. Luchasaurus put Kassidy on the top turnbuckle and they went for a superplex off the back of Luchasaurus, but Kassidy fought out and hit a Canadian Destroyer on Jungle Boy off Luchasaurus’s back. That was insane.

Quen hit a shooting star press to the floor on Luchasaurus, which was insane. Private Party got several near falls here, and Matt Hardy attacked Marko Stunt to distract Jungle Boy. However, this didn’t pay off long term as the Jurassic Express hit their incredible flipping powerbomb.

Result: The Jurassic Express

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5 stars)

Don Callis and Kenny Omega cut a promo on Christian Cage, saying they were going to retire him for another 7 years.

Kiera Hogan cut a promo about her match with Jade Cargill, saying that she wasn’t going to waste this chance, and Cargill promised that tonight she was going to play with her food.

Kiera Hogan vs. Jade Cargill w/ Smart Mark Sterling

Cargill threw Hogan across the ring, but Hogan started kicking the legs and hit a corner charge. Cargill hit a pump kick the floored Hogan, and then picked her up with ease and hit Jaded on her for a 3 count. That was quick.

Mark Henry was with 2.0 and Daniel Garcia said that Garcia was going to take Moxley to the limit and to get to the top in AEW, they have to go through him. Moxley replied on the split screen video saying that he was angry because he didn’t want to talk, and he wanted to beat up Garcia for what he did on Dynamite. Mox then said that Garcia had a higher chance of getting him pregnant than beating him in a wrestling match, which was awesome.

Jon Moxley w/ Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia w/ 2.0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker)

Moxley immediately started beating on Garcia, but Garcia went to work over the knee of Moxley, which was what they attacked on Dynamite. Garcia worked over the leg and hit hammer punches on Moxley before chopping Mox in the corner. Moxley responded with a German suplex and hit 2 more, but Garcia was able to get a kneebar, but Moxley had to get to the ropes to escape.

Moxley took Garcia’s head off with a lariat and then both men exchanged hard firearms until Moxley hit some headbutts and then a throwing vertical suplex. Moxley went for the Paradigm Shift, but Garcia rolled through into a modified sharpshooter, leaning all the way back. Moxley countered by grabbing his head and locking on a bulldog choke, which made him tap out. Reat finish.

Result: Jon Moxley

Rating: *** (3 stars)

This was a great squash. 2.0 immediately attacked Moxley and Darby Allin, Kingston, and Sting ran in to make the save. They beat them around the ring, and all hit finishers to end the show. This was fantastic.

Show Rating: ***** (5 stars)

That was absolutely fantastic, and while the show had lots to talk about, the only thing anyone talks about will be CM Punk. This is going to go down as a hugely significant show in wrestling history that we will be talking about in 10 years. If you are a wrestling fan, this is must see.