CM Punk looks set for an AEW return in the coming months, and should be back in the ring in time for the historic All In 2 event, taking place for the first time in the United Kingdom.
AEW All In 2 will be AEW’s fourth PPV Event of 2023. It will also be the second event in the All In series, although the first was under the ROH umbrella.
The event is scheduled for August 27, 2023 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This will be the first AEW show in the United Kingdom, in the 90,000 seater football stadium.
This will be, by far, the biggest wrestling event the UK has seen since Summerslam 1992. That show was main-evented by Bret Hart vs Davey-Boy Smith, two of the Britain’s favourite WWE Superstars.
In order to fill Wembley in 2023, CM Punk will need to be on top form, and have a top opponent to main event the show.
With rumoured matches like Wardlow vs Goldberg, Saraya vs Jamie Hayter and Sting’s retirement match, the All In 2 card is stacking up nicely. However, CM Punk’s match will be the one that draws fans in the most and is the most important in the show.
Punk has not wrestled in the United Kingdom for a decade, and his return to Blightly will be a huge occasion for British wrestling fans up-and-down the country.
In this article, we’ll look at five matches CM Punk could wrestle in at All In 2, looking at the history behind the bouts and how they could help draw in the biggest wrestling crowd the UK has ever seen.
The Elite
The obvious choice for CM Punk’s match is between two matches, with the first we’ll mention being a trios match against The Elite.
Tensions have been high in AEW since CM Punk’s calamitous press conference after All Out 2022. He laid it into The Elite and Colt Cabana, accusing them of leaking sensitive information to the wrestling press.
This led to a backstage fight between them all, which saw a chair being thrown and punches being landed. All men involved were suspended, and while The Elite have since returned to TV, Punk has not been seen for months.
With various reports about the feeling about Punk backstage, there is a good chance that The Young Bucks want nothing to do with CM Punk (although Kenny Omega is reportedly happy to work with him).
However, if they can put aside their differences to make some big money, a match between CM Punk and The Elite could be a massive draw for AEW’s All In event in London.
The rumours indicate that a team with FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) would be likely for CM Punk, reforming the short-lived CMFTR faction that debuted on AEW Dynamite back in May.
CM Punk and FTR vs The Elite would blend reality with fiction, and bring a new level of intensity to a feud that could spark a huge resurgence in interest for AEW from the casual wrestling fan.
Kenny Omega
Piggybacking off the previous point, a CM Punk vs Kenny Omega match would e even bigger, following the events of All Out 2022.
While this would have been a huge match prior to their real-life scuffle, the true issues between the two make this a heated match that can draw the fans in and forget the scripted nature of wrestling.
Omega has proven he is one of the best wrestlers in the world, after his part in the best match of all time (some claim) against Will Ospreat at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
Now back in the AEW singles division, Kenny Omega vs CM Punk would be a dream match for fans around the world, and could help fill up Wembley Stadium for All In 2 this August.
Will Ospreay
While this has not been built up on TV, Will Ospreay and CM Punk have both spoken about facing off against each other before.
Given the fact that he is English, there would be no bigger venue than the historic Wembley Stadium to give Will Ospreay his dream match against one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
Ospreay teased a match against Punk for Forbidden Door last year, and has challenged Punk numerous times over the years to the match of his dreams.
Punk has now responded to Ospreay in an interview with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy.
“I don’t want to give people false hope in answering Ospreay. But he’s for sure somebody that I’ve never wrestled before that interests me a lot more than, I guess, the corporate side of professional wrestling nowadays. New and different things are going to interest me more than doing the same old, same old. I always need new goals. I don’t know. Let’s see if he has it at the end of the summer and then ask me the question again.”
Chris Jericho
While this match did go on at a WrestleMania event, it has been over a decade since CM Punk vs Chris Jericho has happened on pay per view.
This match is heavily rumoured to be the first big feud following CM Punk’s return to AEW this June, as part of the new AEW Collision TV show.
Given the extraordinary length of Jericho’s feuds in AEW, stretching this out of All In 2 would be a breeze for somebody as legendary and stubborn as Le Champion.
MJF
One match which has not been mentioned for All In is the long-awaited rematch between CM Punk and MJF.
The best feud in AEW over the past few years has got to be the clash between former WWE Champion CM Punk, and then-future AEW Champion MJF.
The bout pitted the legendary Punk against a man who idolised him as a child, and used CM Punk as his inspiration to become a professional wrestler.
The feud brought in real-life anguish to blur the lines between reality and pro-wrestling. MJF in particular pulled off the promos of his life, with his speech about being bullied as a child going down as one of the greatest promos in wrestling history.
MJF and CM Punk won one match apiece in the rivalry. MJF won the AEW Dynamite bout in Chicago, while the feud ended with CM Punk’s victory in a brutal Dog Collar match at AEW Revolution 2022.
The rematch was meant to take place at AEW Full Gear 2022, with Punk’s AEW Championship on the line. However, due to Punks absence, MJF beat Jon Moxley for the belt and became the top champion in AEW.
All In 2 will need a huge main event to help fill Wembley Stadium. A rematch between CM Punk and MJF would certainly go a ways to do that, and reignite the greatest feud in AEW history.