Photo credit: AEW
In his first television match since returning to professional wrestling after a seven-year hiatus, CM Punk defeated Powerhouse Hobbs on Friday night on the Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York.
The Best in the World pinned Hobbs clean after hitting him with the GTS.
Prior to hitting his signature finisher, Punk also broke out some of his old favorites, including the top-rope elbow drop.
All Elite Wrestling @AEW
Top rope elbow from <a href=”https://twitter.com/CMPunk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CMPunk</a>, but it’s going to take more to put down the big <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Powerhouse?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Powerhouse</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/TrueWillieHobbs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TrueWillieHobbs</a> – Watch <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWRampage?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#AEWRampage</a>: Grand Slam NOW on <a href=”https://twitter.com/tntdrama?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@tntdrama</a>! <a href=”https://t.co/OdldjsZ3BR”>pic.twitter.com/OdldjsZ3BR</a>
Punk made his long-awaited return to wrestling last month when he announced he signed with AEW, and it wasn’t long after that he returned to the ring as part of the All Out pay-per-view in a suburb of his hometown of Chicago on Sept. 5.
The 42-year-old veteran beat Darby Allin at the event and continued to soak in the adulation of the AEW fanbase in subsequent weeks.
While sitting at the commentary table, Taz interrupted a Punk promo and told him to stop mentioning the names of Team Taz members. Taz was referring to Punk listing Hobbs and Ricky Starks as opponents he would potentially like to face.
A furious Punk told Taz to line up Hobbs, Starks and even Hook so he could go through them one by one.
On the next episode of Dynamite, Punk began the night on commentary, but he didn’t finish, as Hobbs and Hook attacked him.
Hobbs put Punk through the table, which set the stage for a match between them being made official for Rampage.
Punk made his AEW debut on the second-ever episode of Rampage, and Rampage also played host to his first match on regular television since he reentered the wrestling world.
It represented a unique challenge for Punk as well since Hobbs had a massive size and strength advantage. That was a departure from the match against Allin in which Punk was the bigger competitor.
While Hobbs gave Punk all he could handle, Punk’s experience and veteran savvy won out, as he improved his AEW record to 2-0.
Now, the door could be open for Punk to enter into a rivalry with Starks since he has already gotten past one member of Team Taz.
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