EXCLUSIVE: CM Punk on His Talks With Tony Khan on Picking Darby Allin as His First Opponent, Teaming With Sting at the Greensboro Coliseum

During the San Diego Comic-Con, 411mania took part in an AEW press roundtable interview session, which included World Champion CM Punk. Currently, Punk is is on the injury shelf and rehabbing with a foot injury. However, he still took the time to make the trip to Comic-Con to speak to reporters and fans and attend the AEW: Heroes & Villains panel at Comic-Con.

During our roundtable discussion, I got the chance to ask Punk about his return to wrestling after signing with AEW last year, and how Darby Allin was picked as his first in-ring opponent after being away from the business for nearly eight years at AEW All Out 2021, along with getting to team with Sting and Darby Allin in the main event of the AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash at the Greensboro Coliseum. At the Dynamite show last December, Punk teamed with Sting and Darby Allin to take on The Pinnacle (MJF & FTR). Here’s what Punk had to say:

CM Punk on his discussions with Tony Khan on his first opponent in AEW: “I had discussions with Tony about who I wanted it to be, and then he threw out the name Darby, and I was like, ‘Oh. Interesting.’ And to me coming back I didn’t necessarily want to wrestle the good guy, right? But everything just kind of made sense. You know, Tony said, ‘Trust me. Darby’s the guy.’ And I was like, ‘Ah, interesting.’ You know and him being with Sting was kind of a strange dynamic, but it was one of those things that was just wild enough and crazy enough and it was something that I didn’t initially think of. So, I was like, ‘Oh cool.’

“I think it’s important to be receptive, right? Like I had this idea of what I wanted to do and having a boss in a company in a situation where you can have discussions, it’s not just like, ‘Oh, you’re doing this. This is your name, and this is your entrance music. Go out there and do this.’ We came up with, to me, what wound up being perfect. You know, you can watch that back, and you can’t tell me that there was anybody else better for CM Punk to come back and start the renaissance of his career with.”

On the experience of teaming with Sting in the main event on Dynamite at the Greensboro Coliseum: “I’m not an icon when I get in the ring with Sting, you know, in the Greensboro Coliseum? Like, that s***’s wild. That’s history, you know. You watch this when you’re a kid and you grow up and you get into the business, you know, you do it because you love it. You do it because your heart’s in it. You certainly don’t do it for f***ing money. You know, I’ve been broke longer on this earth than I’ve had money in my pocket and you do it to chase those moments that you watch on television, and watching Sting on television for so long. Next thing you know, you go, ‘Oh s***. I get to tag with Sting in the Greensboro Coliseum.'”

On his interaction with Sting before their tag team match at the Holiday Bash: “We both came to each other, and I told him I was like, ‘I want to make gear that you wore when you wrestled [Ric] Flair.’ You know, the black long boys with the gold scorpion, and he said to me, ‘Well, I want to wear your shirt. You know, maybe come up with a way to put your design on my face paint.’ I was just like, ‘Holy s***.’ It’s wild to be in those positions, in those moments, and I cherish them very much. And I want to go do some physical therapy on my foot right now, so I can hurry back and get back to doing exactly those things.”

Thank you to CM Punk for taking the time to speak with us. A video and transcript of our SDCC roundtable chat with AEW star and former World Champion Chris Jericho is also available RIGHT HERE. You can view the full video of 411’s roundtable chat with CM Punk and Jade Cargill at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 below: