Given his link to Living Colour’s 1988 hit, “Cult of Personality,” it would seem reasonable to assume that CM Punk would understand the song’s introductory message, which features an edited quote from Malcolm X, who said, “We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand.”
Instead, on Raw this week, Punk made a quip that not everyone understood.
During an in-ring promo, Punk made a veiled reference to his time in All Elite Wrestling while making a dig at Drew McIntyre. He called McIntyre a choke artist for losing the World Title at WrestleMania in under six minutes, then joked, “Not like how I’m a choke artist,” before telling announcer Pat McAfee, “Two very different things.” McAfee responded with a simple, “Guillotine. Yup.”
As Punk stood in the ring, proud of his zinger, fans in the XL Center in Hartford, CT, sat on their hands, unresponsive. Punk’s subtle reference to the night he choked Jack Perry backstage at last year’s All In event went right over the crowd’s head.
And it wasn’t the first time this happened.
After returning to WWE at last year’s Survivor Series, Punk appeared on SmackDown and discussed potential opponents he might face now that he was back. One name mentioned was Kevin Owens, who was feuding with Grayson Waller and Austin Theory after knocking them both out with one punch during a backstage segment. Punk then used their storyline to reference another of his highly publicized backstage altercations in AEW.
“I don’t know who would feel comfortable working with somebody who randomly just punches people in the face backstage. I mean, it’s 2023, ladies and gentlemen, you just can’t be doing stuff like that — that’s insane.”
Then, like now, Punk’s verbal jab failed to land with the arena audience. The lack of crowd reaction to his “Brawl Out” reference should have signaled to CM Punk and WWE that his hinting at his time in AEW wasn’t worth mentioning. But just as those at his former place of employment can’t stop talking about Punk, it appears the same is true for Punk.
Before WrestleMania, Punk met with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. He answered questions about his time in AEW and what led to his firing. Punk confirmed he had a backstage confrontation with Perry, saying he “just choked somebody a little bit.” That prompted a response from AEW owner Tony Khan, who aired surveillance footage of the incident on AEW Dynamite.
While AEW fans tend to grasp taunts aimed at CM Punk, his remarks about AEW have yet to connect with WWE’s audience. That might be because AEW fans are considered more deeply engaged with wrestling, whereas the WWE Universe is perhaps more casual and less likely to follow wrestling news and rumors online.
Yet despite the disparity in engagement and knowledge between the two fan bases, Punk’s references to AEW likely won’t be his last on WWE TV, as a response from someone in AEW is almost certain to follow soon.
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