At AEW All Out, CM Punk will return to the squared circle for his first pro wrestling match in well over seven years. Rightfully, many are excited; Punk embodies the personification of a “fan’s own” wrestler, having more than made it in a business, during a time, when people who looked like him were not allowed to succeed. His first opponent is someone who Punk has said “would have been his favorite wrestler” if he were a teenager right now: Darby Allin. 28 year old Allin, much like Punk before him, is the alternative, smaller competitor who has successfully endeared himself to a generation of wrestling fans. Because of Darby’s growth in AEW over the past two years, there have been many fan comments in recent days that a loss to CM Punk at AEW All Out will “undo” much of Darby Allin’s momentum. This is, of course, a ludicrous claim.
The Simple Act of Working with Punk Benefits Darby Enormously
There is plenty of buzz around CM Punk right now. The seven-plus years away from the ring, combined with the manner of his return, has led to AEW gaining mainstream attention. His return video, uploaded to YouTube, has – as of this writing – over 8.3 million hits. This is just shy of a million more than Brock Lesnar‘s – WWE‘s most mainstream attraction – own return at SummerSlam, uploaded to WWE’s YouTube channel. With boosted viewership for both AEW Rampage and Dynamite, respectively, following in Punk’s wake, it is clear that people are excited to see him back. The garnered attention will be a boon to Darby Allin – a potential key player in All Elite Wrestling‘s future. For the first time in his short career, Darby is involved in a high profile, major mainstream feud which will only serve to help him in getting his name out there. Fans will be paying attention to this feud above any other and, for that reason, it doesn’t matter if Darby loses; his momentum will not be derailed with a defeat to someone of the caliber of Punk and no matter the outcome, he is going to gain a swarm of new fans, simply by being involved in this feud and match.
What Comes Next For Darby
After the bout with Punk at All Out, it is crucially important that Darby moves onto a fresh, new feud worthy of his boosted popularity. If he moves on to a generic midcard feud, then his involvement in the Punk match was mostly a waste. It is important to capitalize; to strike while the iron is hot and start something exciting. AEW have done tremendously well with their younger talent (with MJF, Adam Page, Sammy Guevara and Allin all becoming key players) and therefore it is worth keeping faith in the company’s booking of Allin. The next feud for Darby is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that the involvement in CM Punk’s first match in seven years will be a benefit to his glistening young career. This is the making of a top star.
More from LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube.
