AEW nails homage to MJ with CM Punk's Chicago return

Jesse Spector|published: Sat 21st August, 09:15 2021

He lost there years ago in UFC225 in 2018, but made a triumphant return last night. source: Getty Images

AEW didn’t mess around, getting straight to the introduction of CM Punk at the very beginning of Rampage on Friday night. They kind of had to, given that it was billed as “The First Dance,” live from Chicago.

The rollout came complete with a remix of Michael Jordan’s return press release from 1995, which was a nice touch to tie it together.

The Chicago crowd, which has chanted Punk’s name for years, kept doing so right up to the start of the show, and when “Cult of Personality” hit, they just about popped the roof off the arena.

It’s still a tough sell to pony up for an actual pay-per-view, even with Punk making his AEW debut against Darby Allin, but that’s the business side’s problem. For now, Punk and AEW delivered a special moment of real emotion, and you don’t get that too often in pro wrestling.

We talkin’ ’bout preseason?

Elsewhere in Windy City sports, Bears running back Tarik Cohen doesn’t want to hear any boos for former Chicago quarterback Mitch Trubisky, coming to town with the Bills for a preseason game.

He’s right, anyone booing Trubisky at Soldier Field is a weirdo. It’s not really the booing that does it, though. It’s the part where the people doing the booing have paid money to attend an NFL preseason game. Real sick behavior.

Who’s ready for some N.C. State at Wazoo footba lll?!

We’ve reached a point with the college conference shenanigans where it’s not really worth reading too closely, and instead just waiting for things to shake out however they may among the schools and leagues.

But it’s still news, so there are still headlines, like “ Breaking down the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 alliance and what comes next.”

Who cares what the reality is? This is a chance to dream big dreams of what might be.

Boston College at Oregon State? Hell yeah.

Michigan State at Wake Forest? You bet.

Utah at Louisville? Bring it on.

Nothing matters, don’t even bother having leagues, just make the entire Power 5 one entity and draw their schedules literally out of a hat, like, two weeks before each season. Make it a really stupid-looking hat, too. We deserve to be entertained by the college football schedule hat.