CM Punk made his eagerly awaited return to AEW debut on the first-ever episode of Collision on June 17th.
The two-time AEW World Champion opened the show by addressing his absence and making reference to the Young Bucks and The Elite. He followed this up with a win in the main event as he teamed with FTR to defeat Jay White, Juice Robinson, and long-time rival Samoa Joe.
Reflecting on Punk’s return on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T was full of praise for the star and how he tackled his first night back on AEW television. The WCW legend said that the promo that opened the show was everything that it needed to be.
“That was the promo that he should’ve came in with as far as putting the focus on guys like The Young Bucks, guys like Kenny Omega, and all the talent there that he was there to ruin their whole world,” said Booker T. “That’s why I said I felt like he dropped the ball with his first promo, this promo he did everything.”
The WWE Hall of Famer added that his references to The Elite give fans something to focus on and brought attention back to AEW programming.
“Now the fans have got something to sink their teeth into as far as, ‘Oh, something’s about to happen,’ opposed to thinking about the other company where you know ain’t nothing going to happen, you’re just talking,” he said. “Now we talking wrestling.'”
Booker also felt that there has been some kind of truce reached backstage between Punk and The Elite, where they have agreed to put their differences aside to work together and make money.
“If you’re going to come back talking about it we’ve got to make it happen,” he said. “I am sure that everybody has come to some kind of agreement as far as, ‘Look guys, we may not like each other but it’s time to go to work.'”
CM Punk Hits Back At “Ticking Time Bomb Claims”
While Booker T might have been impressed it has been reported that at least one big name was less enthusiastic. Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Melter revealed that he’d been told by one top star that they left the June 19th edition of Dynamite — where Punk appeared — in a bad mood, describing the situation as a “ticking time bomb.”
Following the report, Punk took a dig at the notion, sharing a post on his Instagram Stories soundtracked by the Rancid song Time Bomb.
H/t to Wrestling Inc