The way they booked that was incredible. Announcing Orton early to make you think it was to keep the crowd from hijacking the show, the Randy isn’t here yet story to make you think Punk was the 5th man, Orton actually showing up making you think no Punk, only for Punk to return after the match. Expertly done and THAT is how you book a swerve. Take notes Tony
This felt like the first time WWE booked something to take a direct shot at AEW. Debuting a big name free agent after the main event is AEW's signature move. The show was structured around the debut to maximize its impact. I think this is a great development because up until now, WWE has mostly ignored AEW and changed nothing about their presentation. When two companies start vying to top each other, that's when the fans win.
I’m so happy that we get to see Randy and Punk back but Im also genuinely really happy that R Truth is back, might not seem as big but I just like the guy
@@markjackson6431And he achieved this as a black man, something like the legendary bobo brazil You did it, in fact this is a bit shameful for NWA to only have one black champion
Seeing Bret Hart and Ultimate Warrior return to WWE made me believe that this return could happen. But that damn copyright badge showing up on the bottom of the screen made me think the show was really over. Well-played WWE. Oh and damn Orton is super jacked now. Like how is that possible?
I knew people were saying that Punk's return wasn't gonna happen, but I believed it would happen for the last two and a half months, and I'm really glad I did. Seeing Cult of Personality's remaster hit Spotify two days ago following Voices getting one for Orton's return really confirmed it for me.
I think it's a testament to Miz that he made this a plausible matchup after playing the clown for so long. A longer comeback trail would have been nice, even if only to get more face matches out of Miz on the way there.
Miz can still put on his working boots when needed. He's been in comedy angles for so long that people have forgotten. The "King of Safe Style" is back!!
I can’t believe that return actually happened. Hell froze over once when he returned to the business, from sheer shock. They just barely finished thawing it out & now Satan’s back on the phone with his Maintenance Department.
I love how Gunther wins with different moves at times. It adds more realism to his matches when he just does whatever works for the situation he’s in to win.
@@BmanTheChamp And it’s more believable due to his size and painful looking offense. I still remember when he won with a chop against Ciampa in their UK title match, and NO ONE complained. Dude is next level.
The women’s match was great. A great show for bayley and even a good showing for Zoey. Great returns. 4/5 only cuz damage control stays losing and the miz went out pretty sad with the submission
First time in 35 years we've gotten both a Rhodes and a Flair in War Games and they both won. Hope things work out better this time for Punk. Pretty surreal, on par with Bret returning in 2010 and shaking hands with Shawn. Never thought I'd see the day. Say what you will about Triple H, but he was pretty instrumental in the returns of Bruno, Warrior, Punk etc. Should be an interesting couple of months (if it gets that far) assuming we do get on-screen interactions with Rollins, Cody, Reigns, Heyman etc. Would also be great in a perfect world to see Punk against a lot of guys that have come in since he left in 2014 (Styles, Owens, Zayn, Balor, Gunther, LA Knight etc.) Love the subtlety of Gunther beating Miz with a Lion Tamer considering Miz would've tied Jericho's IC Title record had he won. Stark Enterprises lol. Considering Triple H looks like Obadiah Stane nowadays, stranger things have happened. Missed opportunity that Ruffles didn't sponsor last year's Men's War Games match though. They literally had a guy named Ridge in it.
They got me, man. Saw the Survivor Series trademark logo thing hit the screen on the bottom right and was like, “Ok, pretty good ending.” Then Punk’s music hit and… 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
I felt so lucky to be there last night. It was my first ever live wrestling event since being a fan! The crowd was absolutely electric and I don't think there was a single lull in noise during the men's Wargames match, not sure how it came across on tv though. The ending left me excited to see what's to come on Raw and who CM Punks first program might be with.
Nah, if Brian's comments here are any indication, it'll be a burial of everything even AEW cultists praised cuz he's bought fully into the whole "Punk was a monster & the Elite are precious saints" line. This isn't the first video where he's treated him like the sole player in the conflicts & flat out ignored everything that's been confirmed about AEW screwing up.
I was kind of surprised by how fast the ple went by. I appreciate that as someone who found myself worn out when watching other wrestling promotion’s PPVs despite how action packed the matches are.
I feel like they're getting better about length and pacing now. Recent PLEs feel more like the ones I grew up with and not the all day marathons they became in the 2010s.
I am a huge AEW fan but yeah that PPVs seem incredibly long, but I guess the reason why WWE can put on shorter shows is because they have PPV every month so they don't have as much to pay off in every PPV, but AEW has like 6-8 per year now so they can go 2 months with no ppv so they have longer shows to blow off the big feuds they were building during that time. So I think it is excusable to go a little past 4 hrs.
The buffer in all of this will be Paul Heyman. I feel he will play a huge role in keeping what peace is needed to do business and make money. Then again, it's all speculation right now, but with the knowledge we have on the relationship between WWE, Punk, and Heyman, it should be considered.
As jaded wrestling fans it's good to occasionally get worked. At times wrestling can be too predictable...a nice surprise every now and then keeps wrestling fun and relevant
@marcohavokkhaos I've been watching a very long time. I was surprised. Some of us don't dwell on wrestling Twitter all day and a nice surprise was exactly that.
@@marcohavokkhaos But this wasn't predictable though. For it to objectively be that the majority of people would have to believe that, and you know this wasn't the case. With your logic nothing in anything is ever unpredictable just because some people somewhere guessed right. There were tons of people that lost bets yesterday off punk lol.
I think the culture in the wwe currently is so different than Vince’s heyday that this is actually going to work this time. This is the most professional professional wrestling company and I think that’ll be proven true here with Punk’s run. Earth shattering pop at the end of that show. This is exciting.
A small detail everyone seems to have overlooked with The Miz was that though he is working babyface, he still cheated to win on TV and low blowed Gunther on Raw. I liked that because that's what he would do, so I hasn't really completely changed to full on face.
Bayley has become one of my all time favorite heels. I love this persona of being a faction boss, but kind of a pushover who sometimes gets chumped out by her own soldiers. Then you got Charlotte with that Perc Angle moonsault, the Oscar drop, and some nasty weapons spots. Match of the night for me.
I totally agree with the match being awesome, but Charlotte's moonsault almost always looks terrible imho because she often over rotates her entire body when hitting the move.
Too bad her heel schtick is so tired. Calling people dumb and losers ad stupid with her Rita Repulsa cackle after every insult. When she gets serious she is fantastic. But otherwise it's so surface level and corny next to a cool group like Dmg Cntrl
I didn't think he'd be back, simply because of all the bad blood between Triple H and Punk, on top of all the other baggage that Punk brings with him (hell, it looks like his return has already pissed off Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins, but we don't don't know how much of it is a work or a shoot). I was even joking during the show that they should troll the crowd and play "Cult of Personality" only to have heat magnet Dom come out. But I also knew that we've seen other returns that we once thought were impossible until they happened, so don't count anything out completely. Even then, I was still genuinely shocked to see Punk return. I was left speechless for a while, and all I could think to say afterwards was that Hell had frozen over. Again.
@1:00 I now am thinking of Gunther as a fashionista that was disgusted by the bright and gaudy War Games attires. The Ring General bring a war on crimes against wrestling fashion. Thanks for this wonderful visual lol
I wish Punk and the Elite (specifically the Young Bucks) resolved their differences as well and made money instead, but that wasn't meant to be unfortunately.
Anyone else feel like Rhea hasn't had a notable match for the title since she won it off Charlotte at Mania? Every time I watch these events I want to like Rhea's matches, but they never hit.
Ironic that Judgement Day never win without help, and usually still lose WITH help. Yet Rhea wins clean 99% of the time. I can think of just one instance Dom interfered against Raquel back around Nias return
It's tough to build a good challenger for her, she's more popular than all the babyfaces and nobody ever thinks shes going to lose because nobody is on her level right now.
I wrote it off completely more wondering if anyone was gonna turn on each other in the main event - I'm curious to see how it goes (Seth vs. Punk at Mania).
It's worth mentioning that the crowd was white hot for Rhea Ripley. It seemed like she got one of the biggest pops of the night behind Punk and Orton. I'm only talking about her match, though. A lot of folks were confused and cringing when she came out with the briefcase later on, thinking she was trying to cash it in for herself.
I usually don't comment on here and I've yet to watch the video, but THANK YOU for not spoiling who has come back. I'm Italian and I can't watch PLEs LIVE all the time because of the time and today on the social EVERYONE just put that face just to have those clicks. I was fortunate enough to avoid any spoiler untill I finished the event but I really appreciate that you thought about spoiling the fun for the people who can't see it LIVE. That said... On with the review!
I was hoping you'd use that one fan cam clip of Seth Rollins cussing out and flipping off Punk when he came out for the intro of this video in a similar vein to the one you used for the 2019 & 2020 Reviews. Would've been hilarious.
I was eating crow the morning of Survivor Series when the report was if the fans wanted Punk back, WWE would bring him back. That was the big clue to me he was returning because of history. A few returns like Karrion Kross and (unfortunately) Hit Row had reports the morning of their return that WWE were thinking of bringing him back. And even when Orton returned, I thought “wait until the end.” This will be interesting.
As a wrestling fan i don’t understand the hate for this move, as it was suspected due to the wee napkin in the shirt, the oh have two months free(I believe it was 2 months before survivor series ) and the references? If he didn’t show up the city of Chicago would’ve rioted. But I think it’s fantastic because it shows the importance of keeping all these spoilers out of wwe and wrestling in general. It leaves you wondering what if instead of seeing the same thing over and over. Suspense is a huge draw. And I’m here for it
15:01 all the baggage from CM Punk in AEW? You mean when he was disrespected for several months by multiple people in top positions before he said what he said? Lmfao
When CM punk came out, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. Woke up my dad and my mom and my brother barged in my room just to check on me 😂. I remember being in middle school when CM punk left WWE I never thought it would happen, but after nine years, WWE really holds these words true NEVER SAY NEVER
I'm not the biggest CM Punk fan, but I'll admit, I popped when I heard 'Cult of Personality.'' That being said, I don't think we have to worry about another "All Out Brawl Out" situation cause there's no way Triple H would let that fly. Now, it's just a matter if Punk gets injured right away or not.
Punk getting in Perrys face wouldn't happen in WWE. Punk knows the system and that if he plays ball it'll benefit everyone. He had a big ego and was his bosses favorite wrestler since before AEW was even a thing. He thought himself top of the food chain. Phil knows he is not that in WWE. He might be a big name but end of the day Roman will call the shots in anything they do
“Now, Mr. Punk, why did you come back to WWE after all the animus between you?” “Well, when Nick Khan and Paul Levesque drove two dump trucks full of money to my front door, how could I refuse?”
Never apologize for any Lord of the Rings reference! And it's more fitting seeing as how Judgment Days graphics and t-shirts literally have Ring Wraths on them!
For years survivor series 2002 and 2004 were one of my favorite survivor series also survivor series 2012 is up there because I was at that show live But this one here might be my 1D when it comes to my favorite survivor series
So in the WWE RUclips video "CM Punk is Back!" on the screen above the ring, there is a brief 3-4 seconds at the start where Randy, Sami, Jey and Cody were looking in the direction of the entrance a few seconds before Punk's theme started playing.
I know of course all of the attention was on Punk returning, but I wonder if what they're doing with Damage CTRL is actually foreshadowing a possible other return in the future. I mean, Charlotte and Becky seemingly patched things up last night and Damage CTRL will probably turn on Bayley, making Dakota Kai the new leader, even Cole pointed out she's been acting like a leader recently. So if they turn on Bayley and Charlotte and Becky eventually decide to come to the rescue of their old friend, I wonder if then Sasha Banks returns to make it 4 vs 4 at Wrestlemania.
Shout out the Ryan for not plastering Punk all over the thumbnail and actually keeping it a secret. I kind of agree with a lot of your points, the Women's Wargames overall was the better match but the Men's had the bigger moments. I do think DMG Control should have won but I was still happy with the performances the ladies gave. The 3 single matches were good but nothing spectacular. Punk's return was really cool mostly cause of the Chicago crowd they really made it feel special. Hopefully Phil can keep his shit together for this new run but we'll have to wait and see.
Aside from the RKO of Doom that JD McDonaugh took, my favorite part of the PPV was Randy Orton making random noises before his first draping DDT (Pwah! Mwah! Bwah bwah bwah!). As for CM Punk we'll just have to wait & see, though I'm sure Triple H will at least have him under some sort of leash, unlike what happened with Tony Khan & AEW.
The whole RKO-outta-nowhere thing is fun (as it was with DDP's Diamond Cutter), but I didn't like that 'RKO of Doom'. I kinda hate when Orton just drops to the ground with his arms over his shoulder the last second when someone's falling from a crazy height anyway, and calling that an RKO. The other guy's already inches from smashing into the ground at speed, and Orton doesn't add impact or anything. Looks kinda goofy to me.
As someone who was not watching during CM Punk's WWE run (lapsed fan that just returned at 'Mania 39), I'm not super happy about him being back just because of all the baggage from his exit and his time in AEW. He does not sound like a healthy presence in the locker room. Hoping he and the WWE work well enough together to prevent more drama.
The Miz story was Gunther overlooking him. Would have it been a little better if they built him up more, sure a little, but that wasn't the story they were telling. It centered around Gunther overlooking not Miz raising to the challenge, Miz also cheated multiple times. I thoroughly enjoyed it surprisingly.
I took it partially as with Miz hanging for as long as he did. He's super talented, Gunther underestimated him severely and he wrestled smarter rather than harder
As George Takei said to Harve Bennett after a line from Star Trek 3 landed a lot better than he thought it would, "I'm eating crow, and it tastes delicious." I do want Punk to just say something like "Shad, Tony's hit HIMSELF with a bus" (in reference to a quote where Tony supposedly told his father "if I ever get hit with a bus, put Bryan Danielson in charge". I mean MY choice would be Lance Storm but would he take it?). But this really makes any Jack Perry return as The Devil or what have you look stupid.
I agree the women’s War Game was better. Regarding Punks return, the one good thing WWE do for their wrestlers is not give them a lot of freedom for creative control. So any slip up and you’re paying a hefty fine. Also now WWE don’t just have WWE lawyers, they have Endeavor Lawyers that can be a headache for any wrestler that stepped out of line, like Matt Riddle.
If they wouldve gave Ripley and Stark an extra 5-8 minutes i think that would have made the match so much better. Zoey definetly has the physical ability but she needs more time to build her character in ring
Everybody saying punk is just gonna cause problems and ruin everything is dumb. The problems in aew could’ve been headed off if that company had actual leadership. Some people aren’t gonna be happy he’s back but that doesn’t mean things are gonna boil over like aew. You don’t hear much about punk fighting and being a problem backstage his first wwe run. Any person at any job is gonna have people they don’t like and don’t like them. Punk and HHH are gonna bury aew.
Exactly! Thank you! Most people taking that "Punk will just do the same things at WWE" track are usually in the AEW fanbase and operate under the notion that the people on their TV are their close personal friends. Something that AEW encourages.
When Schotzi was tossing the chairs in I looked over to my wife and wondered if she was supposed to put them in the ring 2 at a time and she had to balk because her hands are too small.
As cool as it was to see Punk return. (And I know I'm gonna get some heat for this) It served no purpose other than a cheap pop. It overshadowed Randy's long awaited return and I had to watch a day late on Peacock so it cut off mid entrance so some didn't get to see any payoff.
15:30 You really named everyone except Brett, Warrior and Hogan… that’s literally the big 3 of guys coming back when many people didn’t think there was a shot in hell. You say those 3 names out loud and suddenly you’ll realize that there have been former legends that came back down the road with bigger cases not to come back and all of a sudden you’ll realize that Punk’s excursion doesn’t seem that unlikely for a return.
I think Miz can pull off being a babyface. The problem is he never won a match when it mattered in his previous babyface runs. Hopefully, this isn't over because I really do think he can pull it off, but this one shouldn't be cut short again like the last one. 😊
I turned in at 6 my time thinking Survivor Series was a 4 hour show. The women's match was good. Can't wait to see the fallout with Damage CTRL and ultimately a babyface Bayley. Great seeing R-Truth. Like one of my friends said in our group chat, Truth is a national treasure. Gunther and Miz was solid. I get where Z-Man is coming from with the take about Miz. I look at as the trope of the old veteran trying to get one over the newer guy but failing. Chef's kiss with Gunther winning with the Liontamer and using the bad leg to apply pressure. Rhea's match was a foregone conclusion. Santos Escobar is money. I looked up at the clock when the men's war games was going on and did a double take. The cash in tease was good. Randy's looking jacked up. He's looking good as Booker T would say. Punk returning back to E had my eyes bulging. Curious to see how the E carries this momentum into the last PLE and into 2024.
I feel like my days of watching wrestling are over. CM Punk's return marks the end of it. I feel he is going to take away a spot from people like the returning R-Truth and the Miz. Those two should get the attention that has-been CM Punk will likely swallow up. All I can hope for is for Punk to screw up as he usually does and get fired or quit early on. Maybe I'll be surprised, but I most certainly won't be.
Man..... Cody, Cargill, now Punk? Apologies to the AEW marks like Zane still clinging to Dave's "Punk is the problem in the locker room and no one wants him" line😂😂😂😂. At least Tony still has Pockets and Jungle Jack right Brian?
I enjoyed the show, but there seemed to be a lot of slip ups. Charlotte overrotated on her moonsault and Iyo Skye ate it. Kairi Sane was slow getting up the ropes. Shotzi was sloppy. Gunther missed his splash. Rhea and Zoey with that top rope whatever it was botch. The awkward Seth stomp on Priest (maybe just a camera issue?). Miz and Zoey looked far too strong as well. Again, overall very strong show, and nice to watch a ppv that was less than 3 hours!
My rating of each match out of 5 stars: Women's War Games: 2 or 2.5 IC Title match: 2.5 Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar: 3 Women's World Championship: 3.5 Men's War Games: 4
Honestly while I know people are happy to see punk back I just really have to ask why and what the heck can he even bring to the table at the point? I mean putting all the backstage shit happening aside (what punk has said about wwe and what he did in AEW), what can wwe really get out of punk? He can’t really have a run with any of the world titles givin the last couple times he’s held one he’s been injured, he’s a lot older now then he was when he quiet wwe, and genuinely there are alot more talented people who offer more or the same as punk what can they really do with punk outside of feed him to Roman?
The way they booked that was incredible. Announcing Orton early to make you think it was to keep the crowd from hijacking the show, the Randy isn’t here yet story to make you think Punk was the 5th man, Orton actually showing up making you think no Punk, only for Punk to return after the match. Expertly done and THAT is how you book a swerve. Take notes Tony
Both promotions just put on great PPV’s. Just enjoy it. It’s a great time to be a wrestling fan. Why ya gotta throw shade?
not like Tony didnt do that when he debuted Daniel Bryan after Adam Cole....
This felt like the first time WWE booked something to take a direct shot at AEW. Debuting a big name free agent after the main event is AEW's signature move. The show was structured around the debut to maximize its impact. I think this is a great development because up until now, WWE has mostly ignored AEW and changed nothing about their presentation. When two companies start vying to top each other, that's when the fans win.
Can all agree that it's always nice to see Living Colour getting a nice royalty check?
@jamalwest7658. Absolutely, underrated band as well.
@@nu-metalfan2654 Time's Up and Stain are gems
Hell didn’t they just get one 2 years ago 😂😂
Great band. Loved them back in the day.
I’m so happy that we get to see Randy and Punk back but Im also genuinely really happy that R Truth is back, might not seem as big but I just like the guy
A fine addition to any boy stable
I love R-Truth, he's so fun and he's a good wrestler outside of being good at comedy.
@@jackrailroada OSW fan I see a man of the people you are🙌🏻
Truth is a former NWA Worlds Champion. he deserves all the respect we can give him
@@markjackson6431And he achieved this as a black man, something like the legendary bobo brazil You did it, in fact this is a bit shameful for NWA to only have one black champion
Gunther complaining at the television in a grumpy mood is unironically perfect.
how can something even be ironically perfect
CM punk?
Seeing Bret Hart and Ultimate Warrior return to WWE made me believe that this return could happen. But that damn copyright badge showing up on the bottom of the screen made me think the show was really over. Well-played WWE. Oh and damn Orton is super jacked now. Like how is that possible?
Wellness policy can't get to you if you're gone for a year ;)
He's fuggin heeeyuuuuge. Was he always that tall?! I forgot what a monster he is.
Proper rest and a good diet do wonders, obv consistent training.
@@ZedQueand steroids, too!
@@frenchtoast2319 I don’t doubt he’s on TRT, he’s a pro athlete in his 40s.
I knew people were saying that Punk's return wasn't gonna happen, but I believed it would happen for the last two and a half months, and I'm really glad I did. Seeing Cult of Personality's remaster hit Spotify two days ago following Voices getting one for Orton's return really confirmed it for me.
Fancy seeing you here, seeing as you're normally on Cimo's channel
They lied. Of course broke Phil would turn up.
They would have left money on the table if not. There's no goofy "elite" to deal with.
Return of the century happened on this show. Great to see you again, R-Truth!
I am excited about the big return last night. It's been far too long since R-Truth has been on TV.
I never thought I’d see the day where I hear Cult of Personality in the WWE ever again. Welcome back, CM Punk!
Can’t wait to hear it again tomorrow night on Raw!
He gotta bring back "This Fire Burns".
You guys are sheeps.
I got goosebumps when his music hit
@@bobbybr38k3r8 I thought for sure WWE was gonna troll us first but nope he came right out!
I think it's a testament to Miz that he made this a plausible matchup after playing the clown for so long. A longer comeback trail would have been nice, even if only to get more face matches out of Miz on the way there.
He certainly made the fans forget that Snoop Dog beat him only a few months ago, that's a credit to his ability.
Miz can still put on his working boots when needed. He's been in comedy angles for so long that people have forgotten. The "King of Safe Style" is back!!
It’s crazy because his promos are just how he truly feels about his work. They ask him to step up, and he does.
I can’t believe that return actually happened. Hell froze over once when he returned to the business, from sheer shock. They just barely finished thawing it out & now Satan’s back on the phone with his Maintenance Department.
Good one!!
I love how Gunther wins with different moves at times. It adds more realism to his matches when he just does whatever works for the situation he’s in to win.
Absolutely, it gives that intrigue to the match, like you never truly know if it's the finish no matter what move he uses.
@@BmanTheChamp And it’s more believable due to his size and painful looking offense. I still remember when he won with a chop against Ciampa in their UK title match, and NO ONE complained. Dude is next level.
That match had a lot of references to Jericho (especially the comms) which I think the finish was part of.
I like that he won with the liontamer a jerucho finisher when you know that if miz won he would be a 9th time champion like jericho
The women’s match was great. A great show for bayley and even a good showing for Zoey.
Great returns.
4/5 only cuz damage control stays losing and the miz went out pretty sad with the submission
First time in 35 years we've gotten both a Rhodes and a Flair in War Games and they both won.
Hope things work out better this time for Punk. Pretty surreal, on par with Bret returning in 2010 and shaking hands with Shawn. Never thought I'd see the day. Say what you will about Triple H, but he was pretty instrumental in the returns of Bruno, Warrior, Punk etc. Should be an interesting couple of months (if it gets that far) assuming we do get on-screen interactions with Rollins, Cody, Reigns, Heyman etc. Would also be great in a perfect world to see Punk against a lot of guys that have come in since he left in 2014 (Styles, Owens, Zayn, Balor, Gunther, LA Knight etc.)
Love the subtlety of Gunther beating Miz with a Lion Tamer considering Miz would've tied Jericho's IC Title record had he won.
Stark Enterprises lol. Considering Triple H looks like Obadiah Stane nowadays, stranger things have happened.
Missed opportunity that Ruffles didn't sponsor last year's Men's War Games match though. They literally had a guy named Ridge in it.
Glad im not the only one that thought he was looking like Obadiah Stane.
I agree that Lion Tamer was a good subtlety.
I'm sure it will go better. There's no goofy "elite " to deal with.
They got me, man. Saw the Survivor Series trademark logo thing hit the screen on the bottom right and was like, “Ok, pretty good ending.” Then Punk’s music hit and… 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Same
I thought it would NEVER happen yet here we are
I felt so lucky to be there last night. It was my first ever live wrestling event since being a fan! The crowd was absolutely electric and I don't think there was a single lull in noise during the men's Wargames match, not sure how it came across on tv though. The ending left me excited to see what's to come on Raw and who CM Punks first program might be with.
Hopefully we get that CM Punk in AEW video soon
Seconded.
Thrided.
Nah, if Brian's comments here are any indication, it'll be a burial of everything even AEW cultists praised cuz he's bought fully into the whole "Punk was a monster & the Elite are precious saints" line. This isn't the first video where he's treated him like the sole player in the conflicts & flat out ignored everything that's been confirmed about AEW screwing up.
R - Truth, Orton and Punk all came back in the same night.... Christmas came early this year!
2011
I was kind of surprised by how fast the ple went by. I appreciate that as someone who found myself worn out when watching other wrestling promotion’s PPVs despite how action packed the matches are.
I feel like they're getting better about length and pacing now. Recent PLEs feel more like the ones I grew up with and not the all day marathons they became in the 2010s.
Other than big shows like Summerslam and obviously Mania, they seem to be trying to keep it to 5-6 matches and around 3 hours, it's much appreciated.
I am a huge AEW fan but yeah that PPVs seem incredibly long, but I guess the reason why WWE can put on shorter shows is because they have PPV every month so they don't have as much to pay off in every PPV, but AEW has like 6-8 per year now so they can go 2 months with no ppv so they have longer shows to blow off the big feuds they were building during that time. So I think it is excusable to go a little past 4 hrs.
The buffer in all of this will be Paul Heyman. I feel he will play a huge role in keeping what peace is needed to do business and make money. Then again, it's all speculation right now, but with the knowledge we have on the relationship between WWE, Punk, and Heyman, it should be considered.
As jaded wrestling fans it's good to occasionally get worked. At times wrestling can be too predictable...a nice surprise every now and then keeps wrestling fun and relevant
And Punk showing up, was predictable. Any time they say something isn't happening in wrestling, that's when you know it's gonna for sure happen.
@@marcohavokkhaos Now if Dave Meltzer showed up at this event, that would have been a surprise.
@marcohavokkhaos I've been watching a very long time. I was surprised. Some of us don't dwell on wrestling Twitter all day and a nice surprise was exactly that.
@@marcohavokkhaos But this wasn't predictable though. For it to objectively be that the majority of people would have to believe that, and you know this wasn't the case. With your logic nothing in anything is ever unpredictable just because some people somewhere guessed right. There were tons of people that lost bets yesterday off punk lol.
I think the culture in the wwe currently is so different than Vince’s heyday that this is actually going to work this time. This is the most professional professional wrestling company and I think that’ll be proven true here with Punk’s run. Earth shattering pop at the end of that show. This is exciting.
R truth has never aged and never will👍
A small detail everyone seems to have overlooked with The Miz was that though he is working babyface, he still cheated to win on TV and low blowed Gunther on Raw. I liked that because that's what he would do, so I hasn't really completely changed to full on face.
Bayley has become one of my all time favorite heels. I love this persona of being a faction boss, but kind of a pushover who sometimes gets chumped out by her own soldiers. Then you got Charlotte with that Perc Angle moonsault, the Oscar drop, and some nasty weapons spots. Match of the night for me.
I totally agree with the match being awesome, but Charlotte's moonsault almost always looks terrible imho because she often over rotates her entire body when hitting the move.
Too bad her heel schtick is so tired. Calling people dumb and losers ad stupid with her Rita Repulsa cackle after every insult. When she gets serious she is fantastic. But otherwise it's so surface level and corny next to a cool group like Dmg Cntrl
I didn't think he'd be back, simply because of all the bad blood between Triple H and Punk, on top of all the other baggage that Punk brings with him (hell, it looks like his return has already pissed off Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins, but we don't don't know how much of it is a work or a shoot). I was even joking during the show that they should troll the crowd and play "Cult of Personality" only to have heat magnet Dom come out. But I also knew that we've seen other returns that we once thought were impossible until they happened, so don't count anything out completely. Even then, I was still genuinely shocked to see Punk return. I was left speechless for a while, and all I could think to say afterwards was that Hell had frozen over. Again.
@1:00 I now am thinking of Gunther as a fashionista that was disgusted by the bright and gaudy War Games attires. The Ring General bring a war on crimes against wrestling fashion.
Thanks for this wonderful visual lol
It was just a matter of time before H and CM got past their differences and saw how much money there is to be made.
I wish Punk and the Elite (specifically the Young Bucks) resolved their differences as well and made money instead, but that wasn't meant to be unfortunately.
@@mrlaidback83well the Bucks act like perpetual 12 year olds so.
Anyone else feel like Rhea hasn't had a notable match for the title since she won it off Charlotte at Mania? Every time I watch these events I want to like Rhea's matches, but they never hit.
Her one with Zelina was quite good
She's too strong and her opponents don't look like they're good enough to win vs her. She's also super over
@@Venemofthe888that was a squash match
Ironic that Judgement Day never win without help, and usually still lose WITH help. Yet Rhea wins clean 99% of the time. I can think of just one instance Dom interfered against Raquel back around Nias return
It's tough to build a good challenger for her, she's more popular than all the babyfaces and nobody ever thinks shes going to lose because nobody is on her level right now.
Rollins vs punk is going to hit harder than Mike Tyson.
I feel like I went back in time with Punk AND Orton back
I wrote it off completely more wondering if anyone was gonna turn on each other in the main event - I'm curious to see how it goes (Seth vs. Punk at Mania).
This is right up there with Bischoff appearing on RAW for the 1st time
It's worth mentioning that the crowd was white hot for Rhea Ripley. It seemed like she got one of the biggest pops of the night behind Punk and Orton. I'm only talking about her match, though. A lot of folks were confused and cringing when she came out with the briefcase later on, thinking she was trying to cash it in for herself.
I was more confused about how the cash in would work within the confines of the wargames match
I usually don't comment on here and I've yet to watch the video, but THANK YOU for not spoiling who has come back. I'm Italian and I can't watch PLEs LIVE all the time because of the time and today on the social EVERYONE just put that face just to have those clicks. I was fortunate enough to avoid any spoiler untill I finished the event but I really appreciate that you thought about spoiling the fun for the people who can't see it LIVE. That said... On with the review!
I was hoping you'd use that one fan cam clip of Seth Rollins cussing out and flipping off Punk when he came out for the intro of this video in a similar vein to the one you used for the 2019 & 2020 Reviews. Would've been hilarious.
I was eating crow the morning of Survivor Series when the report was if the fans wanted Punk back, WWE would bring him back. That was the big clue to me he was returning because of history. A few returns like Karrion Kross and (unfortunately) Hit Row had reports the morning of their return that WWE were thinking of bringing him back.
And even when Orton returned, I thought “wait until the end.” This will be interesting.
Remember when Meltzer said the Punk and WWE talks were "dead" and there was "no evidence" of a return?
Good times 😆
Wrestling “media” is a joke
As a wrestling fan i don’t understand the hate for this move, as it was suspected due to the wee napkin in the shirt, the oh have two months free(I believe it was 2 months before survivor series ) and the references? If he didn’t show up the city of Chicago would’ve rioted. But I think it’s fantastic because it shows the importance of keeping all these spoilers out of wwe and wrestling in general. It leaves you wondering what if instead of seeing the same thing over and over. Suspense is a huge draw. And I’m here for it
LOL at “man-oh-Manischewitz.”
15:01 all the baggage from CM Punk in AEW? You mean when he was disrespected for several months by multiple people in top positions before he said what he said? Lmfao
The guy got his own show to keep him happy.
Sadly, Brian is firmly in the "AEW did nothing wrong" camp and keeps neglecting to mention anything that led to this.
When CM punk came out, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. Woke up my dad and my mom and my brother barged in my room just to check on me 😂. I remember being in middle school when CM punk left WWE I never thought it would happen, but after nine years, WWE really holds these words true NEVER SAY NEVER
I'm not the biggest CM Punk fan, but I'll admit, I popped when I heard 'Cult of Personality.''
That being said, I don't think we have to worry about another "All Out Brawl Out" situation cause there's no way Triple H would let that fly. Now, it's just a matter if Punk gets injured right away or not.
Punk getting in Perrys face wouldn't happen in WWE. Punk knows the system and that if he plays ball it'll benefit everyone. He had a big ego and was his bosses favorite wrestler since before AEW was even a thing. He thought himself top of the food chain. Phil knows he is not that in WWE. He might be a big name but end of the day Roman will call the shots in anything they do
Love the Lord if the Rings reference.
“Now, Mr. Punk, why did you come back to WWE after all the animus between you?”
“Well, when Nick Khan and Paul Levesque drove two dump trucks full of money to my front door, how could I refuse?”
Never apologize for any Lord of the Rings reference! And it's more fitting seeing as how Judgment Days graphics and t-shirts literally have Ring Wraths on them!
The saying is true: “Time does heal all wounds”. And survivor series 2023 with CM Punk returning is the example of that statement
A genuine surprise was really nice. I hope that there is peace in the lockeroom and great matches in the ring.
What made this PLE so good. The men’s war games match may be a match of the year candidate. Then the CM Punk return was just “chef’s kiss”.
For years survivor series 2002 and 2004 were one of my favorite survivor series also survivor series 2012 is up there because I was at that show live But this one here might be my 1D when it comes to my favorite survivor series
I never would have imagined Oscar The Grouch being used as verb before.
😂😂😂😂
Yes. It's now time for Bryan to tell me how I feel about CM Punks' return!
So in the WWE RUclips video "CM Punk is Back!" on the screen above the ring, there is a brief 3-4 seconds at the start where Randy, Sami, Jey and Cody were looking in the direction of the entrance a few seconds before Punk's theme started playing.
I'm not gonna lie, every time I seen Ruffles being advertised, I imitated Boris from "Balto" going: "Would you like potato chíp?"
Everyone talking about Orton's return, CM Punk's return, R-Truth return......
_...but nobody's talking about Bearded Heel Zane return!!!_
I know of course all of the attention was on Punk returning, but I wonder if what they're doing with Damage CTRL is actually foreshadowing a possible other return in the future. I mean, Charlotte and Becky seemingly patched things up last night and Damage CTRL will probably turn on Bayley, making Dakota Kai the new leader, even Cole pointed out she's been acting like a leader recently. So if they turn on Bayley and Charlotte and Becky eventually decide to come to the rescue of their old friend, I wonder if then Sasha Banks returns to make it 4 vs 4 at Wrestlemania.
Shout out the Ryan for not plastering Punk all over the thumbnail and actually keeping it a secret. I kind of agree with a lot of your points, the Women's Wargames overall was the better match but the Men's had the bigger moments. I do think DMG Control should have won but I was still happy with the performances the ladies gave. The 3 single matches were good but nothing spectacular. Punk's return was really cool mostly cause of the Chicago crowd they really made it feel special. Hopefully Phil can keep his shit together for this new run but we'll have to wait and see.
Aside from the RKO of Doom that JD McDonaugh took, my favorite part of the PPV was Randy Orton making random noises before his first draping DDT (Pwah! Mwah! Bwah bwah bwah!). As for CM Punk we'll just have to wait & see, though I'm sure Triple H will at least have him under some sort of leash, unlike what happened with Tony Khan & AEW.
Randy is either boring as hell or absolutely coke'd up out of his mind
The whole RKO-outta-nowhere thing is fun (as it was with DDP's Diamond Cutter), but I didn't like that 'RKO of Doom'. I kinda hate when Orton just drops to the ground with his arms over his shoulder the last second when someone's falling from a crazy height anyway, and calling that an RKO. The other guy's already inches from smashing into the ground at speed, and Orton doesn't add impact or anything. Looks kinda goofy to me.
Yo forget CM Punk. Why did nobody say Kairi Sane was back? Thats hype
i was extremely satisfied with all 3 returns last night
The Gunther Watching meme was hilarious.
Not gonna lie, that just made 2023 so much better 💯
Perfect time to do “CM Punk in AEW” video tho
I was in the same boat about Punk, do wanted to see him return but I concur with exactly what you said about him
As someone who was not watching during CM Punk's WWE run (lapsed fan that just returned at 'Mania 39), I'm not super happy about him being back just because of all the baggage from his exit and his time in AEW. He does not sound like a healthy presence in the locker room. Hoping he and the WWE work well enough together to prevent more drama.
The Miz story was Gunther overlooking him. Would have it been a little better if they built him up more, sure a little, but that wasn't the story they were telling. It centered around Gunther overlooking not Miz raising to the challenge, Miz also cheated multiple times. I thoroughly enjoyed it surprisingly.
I took it partially as with Miz hanging for as long as he did. He's super talented, Gunther underestimated him severely and he wrestled smarter rather than harder
Truly never say never. I was wrong I didn't think cm punk would ever return
As George Takei said to Harve Bennett after a line from Star Trek 3 landed a lot better than he thought it would, "I'm eating crow, and it tastes delicious." I do want Punk to just say something like "Shad, Tony's hit HIMSELF with a bus" (in reference to a quote where Tony supposedly told his father "if I ever get hit with a bus, put Bryan Danielson in charge". I mean MY choice would be Lance Storm but would he take it?). But this really makes any Jack Perry return as The Devil or what have you look stupid.
I agree the women’s War Game was better.
Regarding Punks return, the one good thing WWE do for their wrestlers is not give them a lot of freedom for creative control. So any slip up and you’re paying a hefty fine. Also now WWE don’t just have WWE lawyers, they have Endeavor Lawyers that can be a headache for any wrestler that stepped out of line, like Matt Riddle.
If they wouldve gave Ripley and Stark an extra 5-8 minutes i think that would have made the match so much better. Zoey definetly has the physical ability but she needs more time to build her character in ring
Everybody saying punk is just gonna cause problems and ruin everything is dumb. The problems in aew could’ve been headed off if that company had actual leadership. Some people aren’t gonna be happy he’s back but that doesn’t mean things are gonna boil over like aew. You don’t hear much about punk fighting and being a problem backstage his first wwe run. Any person at any job is gonna have people they don’t like and don’t like them. Punk and HHH are gonna bury aew.
Exactly! Thank you! Most people taking that "Punk will just do the same things at WWE" track are usually in the AEW fanbase and operate under the notion that the people on their TV are their close personal friends. Something that AEW encourages.
@@melasnexperience punk is a cry baby always has been
Everytime I see R-Truth I can’t believe that man is 51 years old
When Schotzi was tossing the chairs in I looked over to my wife and wondered if she was supposed to put them in the ring 2 at a time and she had to balk because her hands are too small.
CM Punk returning is one of the best WWE returns ever. 2024 is gonna be a crazy for WWE
Happy Thanksgiving, Brian.
As cool as it was to see Punk return. (And I know I'm gonna get some heat for this) It served no purpose other than a cheap pop. It overshadowed Randy's long awaited return and I had to watch a day late on Peacock so it cut off mid entrance so some didn't get to see any payoff.
She "Oscar the Grouches" it hahahaha!
Thanks for the review Brian ❤
I love the censoring as if someone didn't already know CM Punk was back. I was so glad I went last night. It was worth every penny.
15:30
You really named everyone except Brett, Warrior and Hogan… that’s literally the big 3 of guys coming back when many people didn’t think there was a shot in hell.
You say those 3 names out loud and suddenly you’ll realize that there have been former legends that came back down the road with bigger cases not to come back and all of a sudden you’ll realize that Punk’s excursion doesn’t seem that unlikely for a return.
didn’t expect a Joey Ryan reference in year of our lord 2023
I think Miz can pull off being a babyface. The problem is he never won a match when it mattered in his previous babyface runs. Hopefully, this isn't over because I really do think he can pull it off, but this one shouldn't be cut short again like the last one. 😊
Brian Zane - love him - the only wrestling personality who DIDN’T see a CM Punk return coming for Survivor Series.
I turned in at 6 my time thinking Survivor Series was a 4 hour show. The women's match was good. Can't wait to see the fallout with Damage CTRL and ultimately a babyface Bayley. Great seeing R-Truth. Like one of my friends said in our group chat, Truth is a national treasure.
Gunther and Miz was solid. I get where Z-Man is coming from with the take about Miz. I look at as the trope of the old veteran trying to get one over the newer guy but failing. Chef's kiss with Gunther winning with the Liontamer and using the bad leg to apply pressure. Rhea's match was a foregone conclusion. Santos Escobar is money.
I looked up at the clock when the men's war games was going on and did a double take. The cash in tease was good. Randy's looking jacked up. He's looking good as Booker T would say. Punk returning back to E had my eyes bulging. Curious to see how the E carries this momentum into the last PLE and into 2024.
Someone check on The Snowman ☃️
Dragon Lee's first war games.
I feel like my days of watching wrestling are over. CM Punk's return marks the end of it. I feel he is going to take away a spot from people like the returning R-Truth and the Miz. Those two should get the attention that has-been CM Punk will likely swallow up. All I can hope for is for Punk to screw up as he usually does and get fired or quit early on. Maybe I'll be surprised, but I most certainly won't be.
Am i the only one that looks forward to the “watching the match/footage” graphic
Man..... Cody, Cargill, now Punk? Apologies to the AEW marks like Zane still clinging to Dave's "Punk is the problem in the locker room and no one wants him" line😂😂😂😂. At least Tony still has Pockets and Jungle Jack right Brian?
Hell froze over
Was anyone else really distracted by Walter's hand and the bad cut out job?
I enjoyed the show, but there seemed to be a lot of slip ups. Charlotte overrotated on her moonsault and Iyo Skye ate it. Kairi Sane was slow getting up the ropes. Shotzi was sloppy. Gunther missed his splash. Rhea and Zoey with that top rope whatever it was botch. The awkward Seth stomp on Priest (maybe just a camera issue?). Miz and Zoey looked far too strong as well. Again, overall very strong show, and nice to watch a ppv that was less than 3 hours!
My rating of each match out of 5 stars:
Women's War Games: 2 or 2.5
IC Title match: 2.5
Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar: 3
Women's World Championship: 3.5
Men's War Games: 4
Biggest wrestler to make his return @ SS: RON KILLINGS!!
Love the Gunther reaction TV screen image.
Great Lord Of The Rings reference 😂
Brian don't forget the part where Seth
Went ballistic at seeing punk.😂
Honestly while I know people are happy to see punk back I just really have to ask why and what the heck can he even bring to the table at the point?
I mean putting all the backstage shit happening aside (what punk has said about wwe and what he did in AEW), what can wwe really get out of punk? He can’t really have a run with any of the world titles givin the last couple times he’s held one he’s been injured, he’s a lot older now then he was when he quiet wwe, and genuinely there are alot more talented people who offer more or the same as punk what can they really do with punk outside of feed him to Roman?
12:10
Delicious looking gazelle was not a phrase I thought I'd hear lol