CM Punk in AEW: Part 4 – AEW Full Gear 2021 vs Eddie Kingston | Column
This was previously part of a book I had written and released on CM Punk’s initial run 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, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
Interest in the All Elite Wrestling product from a casual perspective had declined by a large percentage. Our own Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Google searches for the AEW Full Gear 2021 PPV had declined from 500,000 for ALL OUT to around 50,000 for Full Gear. Despite that, the actual PPV itself managed to draw a good number, with the show managing around 155,000 buys overall, up quite a bit from the 85,000 and 95,000 numbers from the two years prior.
AEW Full Gear 2021 PPV Buys
Double or Nothing, the show before ALL OUT 2021, managed to get around 115,000 buys, so whilst it appeared as though the causal interest might have been waning, the company had been able to seemingly retain a decent portion of those who purchased ALL OUT.
Meltzer would also address this in the Newsletter at the time, giving heavy praise to the Kenny Omega and Adam Page main event, saying that it “indicates that Omega vs. Page was a huge match, not mainstream, but to the AEW audience. Between the lower TV ratings and far fewer Google searches, one would have thought the PPV would not do nearly as well as it did.”
It was interesting that Meltzer would put the onus on Omega and Page being the match that sold the PPV, and whilst it is likely a multitude of different reasons, the white-hot segment between Punk and Kingston on the November 5th episode of Rampage was a big part of the advertised build-up at the time.
YouTube Metrics
Whilst we’re years beyond at the time of writing, the video showing the segment between Punk and Kingston on the November 5th 2021 episode of AEW Rampage has around 2.8 million views on YouTube, compared to the segment between Omega and Page from the Dynamite two days prior, which has around 443,000 views as of writing.
Granted, you absolutely cannot completely attribute social media metrics to PPV buys, but there was clearly an interest in both Punk and Kingston from the wider audience (at least on social media) that perhaps was not there for Omega vs Page.
Dave was most probably right about the AEW audience wanting to see Page vs Omega, but Punk vs Kingston was getting numbers online as well.
Eddie Kingston vs CM Punk at AEW Full Gear 2021
The actual match itself at the PPV was hot, with the crowd audibly behind both men from the start. Punk would end up taking the win after a genuinely stiff encounter that saw both men really laying into each other, and it was critically praised by many on a PPV card that arguably rivalled ALL OUT for action.
What baffled me (as a fan at the time) was that the company opted to make this a one-and-done feud, with the two men not competing against each other again in an All-Elite ring. Considering how hot the feud was, largely down to one incredible promo segment, and considering how there were some genuine real-life issues between the two men, why didn’t they decide to run it back?
Eddie Kingston on CM Punk
As already noted, there appears to genuinely be a hatred there between the two men, which was reiterated by Kingston in a 2022 interview with Inside The Ropes’ Kenny McIntosh:
“No. No there’s no like there [between me and CM Punk]. He doesn’t like me, I don’t like him, and I don’t think that we will ever like each other. I’m just being honest with you, we are never going to see eye to eye and I’m not a very forgiving person. I am catholic and I believe that is God’s problem, forgiving people. So no, I have no desire to be friends with him and he has no desire to be friends with me. We just do not like each other, and that’s it.”
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
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.