CM Punk in AEW: Part 3 – AEW Rampage run and the start of the Eddie Kingston feud | Column

This was previously part of a book I had written and released on CM Punk’s debut to first AEW Title win in All Elite Wrestling, covering August 2021 until May 2022. I’ll be uploading it here sporadically, adapted for easier reading online, so please feel free to check it out. You can check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

CM Punk would spend the September 29th episode of AEW Dynamite on commentary, and the show continued to ride the high since ALL OUT with a viewership of 1,152,000 and a 0.45 in the 18-49 demographic. 

Commentary would confirm on the show that Punk would be facing Daniel Garcia on the next Friday’s episode of AEW Rampage, giving the show a good week or so to promote and get some more strong numbers to try and match what Dynamite was producing at that time.

AEW Rampage Ratings

Intriguingly, the numbers didn’t get better, and they actually got WAY worse, with the show getting a viewership of around 502,000 with a 0.17, a massive drop from the week before, that featured Bryan Danielson taking on Nick Jackson.

In fact, Punk would wrestle a number of matches in the coming weeks on the Rampage show, with all of them getting advertised well in advance, and yet they didn’t seem to make a big difference in the overall viewership, at least not in a positive way, until the October 15th 2021 episode of the show where he faced Matt Sydal.

The show featuring his bout with fellow former WWE star and independent wrestling name Matt Sydal managed to draw a viewership of 578,000 and a 0.24, giving the show a bump of around 76,000 from the prior week.

It’s pretty fascinating to see these numbers for Rampage, as even with the presence of Punk taking on some of the younger talents, it was unable to gain a large amount of traction compared to the success of Dynamite when it took place mid-week (two shows took place on Saturdays in October 2021). 

Could this be attributed to the people Punk was facing? It’s difficult to tell, but it was clear at that time Punk needed to stop having one-off matches and get back to what he does best; having a feud with someone where he can flex his abilities on the microphone to create some compelling television.

AEW Rampage Ratings – October 1st 2021 to October 29th 2021

AEW Dynamite Ratings – September 8th 2021 to September 22nd 2021

Feud with Eddie Kingston

What made Punk vs Darby Allin intriguing was seeing an old head in Punk taking on a rising star in what was essentially a showcase match. What was intriguing about Punk vs Eddie Kingston, was that the two men had history, and boy, did they have history.

The feud between the two men is deeply rooted in their shared history on the independent wrestling circuit in the early 2000s, and Kingston would mention on numerous occasions across AEW programming (and in interviews) that this was a legitimate issue and not just a ‘wrestling storyline.’

It was revealed by an ‘anonymous’ wrestler at the time that the issues stemmed from the two performer’s time in IWA Mid South:

“I can fully vouch for Eddie’s promo on Punk the other night. I was sitting right there in an IWA Mid South locker room when Punk called Eddie and his partner at the time, Blackjack Marciano, fat, lazy and unsafe. Marciano had just accidentally injured Delirious in a previous match and Punk was hot about it, so just buried them nonstop. I could see why Eddie hung onto that hate and anger for so long.” – Anonymous via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Kingston revealed in a December 2021 interview, after the feud had concluded, that he ‘promo battle’ between him and Punk was what he actually wanted to say to the former WWE Champion for the past 15 years:

“That wasn’t a promo. That was something we’ve both wanted to say to each other for fifteen years. That was fifteen years of buildup for both of us. So then you think ‘How do you follow that up with a match?’ It wasn’t a match, we actually fought. I hit him, he hit me, you know what I mean? If the fans enjoy it, they enjoy it. At that point, with someone like him, who I don’t like, I don’t care if people liked it or not at that point. It could’ve been zero people in the audience, I was going to hit him.”

via ewrestlingnews

Effect of CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston feud

Almost a year beyond the feud, Eddie would go on to say to The Wrestling Perspective Podcast that the feud between the two men in AEW was detrimental to him mentally:

“After the showdown there with Punk, as I like to call it, I had to walk away from everybody so I could break out of that mental state where I just wanted to kill everybody. Everything I said to Punk was real. I just have to break out of that because then I would’ve been miserable the whole day. I would’ve been, as my father would say, sitting in my own sh*t and not getting out of my own way.”

via WrestlingINC

Build to AEW Full Gear 2021

Despite the history between the two men and the very real issues people could see playing out on television, there was actually only three weeks’ build to their match at the November PPV event: Full Gear 2021.

The feud would begin on the October 29th episode of AEW Rampage, where an angry Eddie Kingston would interrupt a segment backstage with Punk after he lost to Bryan Danielson. CM Punk would then call out Kingston on the next episode of Dynamite, demanding to speak to him about this ‘fabricated beef’ he had in his head from years ago.

Kingston would confront Punk on the November 5th episode of Rampage, and whilst this again was advertised ahead of time, telling fans that they would be getting a face-to-face between two of the best talkers on the planet, the ratings did not match what you might of expected.

The November 5th episode of the show had an average viewership of 599,000 viewers and a 0.22, down around 24,000 from the prior week when Kingston faced Danielson.

Despite the show not getting a fantastic number, the segment between the two men was some of the most captivating that fans had seen since Punk debuted in AEW. Finally, we were getting what we truly wanted from Punk, and against a talent like Kingston, no less.

At the time, Eddie Kingston felt like he was able to cut a great promo every other week, but this showing with Punk on Rampage took it to a deeper level:

“I don’t give a crap. I don’t care. I’m gonna tell everyone the truth about who you are. Ladies and gentlemen, give me a second. This man was once a hero of mine. Guys like him, Samoa Joe, Homicide, and The Amazing Red. Guys like that, on the independents, when I first broke in, inspired me, were my heroes. But you, you low-life scumbag two-faced narcissistic bitch. You! You– Give me a second. You judged me. I came to that locker room to get free. Free from my mental crap, free from the streets. I came to that locker room for brotherhood and all you did was judge me. Because why? I was fat? Why? Because I like to eat a little bit? Why? Because I didn’t play everyone’s game? I didn’t kiss ass? Because I didn’t become friends with the booker? I didn’t bury other people to get my own stuff in? So I was wrong? No, you were wrong. You were wrong. That’s what I know. That’s the point I know.”

Excerpt from the promo via Cagematch

Hype packages and a short pull-apart brawl were shown on screen on the Dynamites and Rampages leading up to the Full Gear PPV event, and whilst the majority of the hype for the PPV itself was built around ‘Hangman’ Adam Page challenging Kenny Omega for the AEW Championship, fans were still captivated by the war of words between Punk and Kingston just a few weeks prior.

AEW Rampage Ratings – November 5th 2021 to November 12th 2021

AEW Dynamite Ratings – November 3rd 2021 to November 10th 2021

Jake Skudder

Jake is the Head of Audience at F4WOnline, having previously worked as a Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief and Sports Coordinator for NationalWorld. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop and The Hard Times.

Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.

He previously also worked for PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.

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