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CM Punk, in his own words, is home in WWE. His move from AEW to WWE has had some unprecedented coverage. The Stamford-based company is careful not to reference the AEW in any manner whatsoever.
However, Punk's promos and antics in WWE have had ample references to his stint in the Jacksonville-based company. Here's a look at three references Punk and WWE have already made.
#3. CM Punk walks away from The Bloodline locker room
CM Punk's promos in WWE are well-documented. In his recent appearance on SmackDown, he stood outside the Bloodline's locker room and decided not to enter. Wrestling fans quickly made the Bloodline -The Elite connect - both are dominant stables in their respective wrestling promotions.
"Did yall catch this AEW reference? He thought about barging in to someone's locker room and decided against it LMFAO WWE making more material out of this than AEW is hilarious. #SmackDown" the fan wrote
The Second City Saint's tumultuous time in AEW saw him have real-life beef with The Elite. Punk and members of The Elite had a backstage altercation. Reports suggest the backstage altercation occurred after The Second City Saint tore into them with his comments at the All Out post-show conference in 2022. The altercation was one of the moot points in the timeline that ended with the Tony Khan-owned company sacking Punk.
#2. WWE has a 'fining' angle after reports about AEW fining wrestlers
After CM Punk left Tony Khan's company, reports suggested that Bryan Danielson played a role in the firing. He was part of the committee that decided to Punk. Later on, reports confirmed that the American Dragon also fined several AEW talents for their social media behavior.
Now, WWE has a storyline where Randy Orton was fined $50000 for putting Nick Aldis through a devastating RKO - no prizes for guessing where the Stamford-based company got inspiration for that angle.
#1. CM Punk talks about Cody Rhodes and interacts with Kevin Owens
CM Punk will be in a feud before you can say 'Wrestlemania 40'. But before that, he's been referencing Cody Rhodes and interacting with Kevin Owens. Interestingly, Rhodes was one of the first and most 'over' wrestlers in AEW since the Tony Khan-owned company's conception in 2019.
During his December 8 promo, he had a quick reference about The American Nightmare to throw out but didn't pursue that angle - possibly keeping that feud for later. Kevin Owens is one of the rare wrestlers who referenced an AEW wrestler on WWE TV - his good friend Adam Cole. Cole wrestles in the Tony Khan-owned company and is a former NXT Champion. Owens referred to him by naming him 'my friend Adam,'.
WWE loves to play the long game when trolling competition. Tony Khan seems to be less equipped for this kind of anti-banter. He famously had only disparaging remarks against WWE entities, including Vince McMahon and Triple H, during the run-up to the one-off Tuesday Night Ratings war.
WWE NXT defeated Dynamite at the ratings table during that war, though. Without a single word reference, Triple H and the creative team over at Titan Towers have been subtly showing everyone who's boss - whether it's about money or creativity.
What do you think? Will this referencing game continue? Or will WWE tire of it? Tell us in the comments section.
