There’s one man that is immediately synonymous with the city that ‘All In’ will be broadcasting from come September 1st. Chicago, for many wrestling fans, equals CM Punk.
Punk is scheduled for a meet and greet appearance the day before the show, in association with the ‘All In’ event, but has not been announced as an actual participant for the event despite being made a “real offer” to compete.
“Mythical” Punk
During a recent interview with WrestlingInc, Cody Rhodes spoke about Punk’s “mythical” presence and what he would bring to All In.
“Yes, I mean I talked to [Punk] just vaguely,” Rhodes said. “He even at one point said ‘nobody’s asked me — hey here’s how much we’ll pay you and here’s who you’ll wrestle.’
He went on to say, “Matt [Jackson] actually made a full offer or full pitch for his services and I think Punk is focused on the Mixed Martial Arts element of his career. One of the reasons we didn’t first come out and say, ‘here’s who we want you to wrestle,’ because I think we just wanted him to be a part of the event for a lot of fans, he’s captured their imagination even with the amount of time he’s been gone. He has a mythical presence to them. I thought it would be good for him to connect with them, but that’s me, you know?”
“Nobody owns Punk but Punk,” Cody remarked, “so if he wants to do Mixed Martial Arts, go for it. He was always very nice to me and helpful to me in OVW. I always looked at ‘All In’ with the perspective that it’s about the present and future of the industry and not really about cheap pops, even though I’m sure they’ll be plenty of those on the show. Matt had reached out to [Punk] and made him a real offer. I think Punk is set on not being part of it.”
So, you could say, that Punk was only partially in? CM Punk is currently signed to the UFC, where he has a record of 0-2.
For more information, visit our All In news page.