Jim Cornette believes that the recent signing of CM Punk will send a message to certain members of the AEW roster.
With the wrestling world still reeling from the fact that Punk is back in the company that he left in 2014, 4 prominent names have now made the switch from AEW to WWE. With many stars now feeling that the grass is greener under the Triple H regime, Cornette has stated that despite Punk being fired from AEW, the former World Champion will ultimately be the victor.
Speaking on the Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette analysed the motivations behind CM Punk’s WWE return. Cornette notes that even though the EVPs of the company had their issues with Punk, the Chicago native is likely going to be a high-profile match in 2024:
“The point is they smell this sucker’s blood in the water and they are chomping on it because now Triple H has told everybody in AEW. Yeah, the guy that that your EVPs said was a cancer and that they couldn’t get along with under any circumstances, they didn’t want to speak to, they will meet with, they won’t work with, they will make up with, and their friends and minions hounded him and badgered him until finally face locked one of them. Well, now he’s going to main event WrestleMania.
The landscape in WWE is very different to what it was 20 years ago. When major names from outside companies signed back in the Invasion era, Vince McMahon took issue with the fact that they made their name somewhere else and would never feature them as prominently, often losing the big matches. However, things are different in the present day, as has been seen with Cody Rhodes’ presentation following his return to the company in 2022.
Cornette referenced the fact that Rhodes, the first major name to make the jump from AEW, is likely to headline the second night of the show. With this in mind, Cornette feels that anyone disgruntled in AEW will take notice and think about following Rhodes, Punk, Jade Cargill and Brian Pillman Jr. [Lexis King] when their contracts are up:
That’s following the only EVP so far to date that has left that Titanic of a vessel who is probably going to main event the other night of WrestleMania because he’s the hottest babyface in the business. That’s what Triple H has just told these f*cking people that work for AEW that would like to get somewhere in their wrestling career that are not the EVPs and their immediate friends and minions that have milked his billionaire’s son out of a comfortable living forever many years this has been now. But if you really want to go somewhere well here’s the gravy train folks over there you’re just eating the Purina f*cking generic dog chow.”
Jim Cornette Blasts Divisive AEW Match
Although Cornette has often been critical about the presentation and match quality of AEW, he has been complimentary about a number of current and former stars such as Punk, FTR, MJF and Powerhouse Hobbs. However, when discussing the recent Texas Death Match between Adam Page and Swerve Strickland, Jim Cornette was irate at what he saw and believes that AEW’s next network deal may be affected by it.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit The Jim Cornette Experience and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.