Wrestling fans had a lot to enjoy at last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con 2024 event. The top stars from WWE and AEW participated in discussion panels. We got a first-look at dozens of upcoming action figures. Even the blockbuster reveal that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to portray the iconic villain Doctor Doom featured elements of a wrestling angle
Here are the pro wrestling highlights from San Diego Comic Con 2024:
WWE Panel
WWE stars CM Punk and Zoey Stark participated in the Mattel panel, which included a Q&A session with fans in the audience.
CM Punk talks Vince McMahon and Darby Allin
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, Punk discussed how much it meant to work with a rising star like Darby and considered him a great friend.
“Being a straight-edge kid, being the one that kind of lured CM Punk back to the ring and getting my first match back after six or seven years or whatever it was. That’ll always be my number one with a bullet because I think Darby is a talented kid and I was happy to share the ring with him. I think we told a nice little story.”
Punk also touched upon getting back into the WWE fold, noting that Vince McMahon leaving “illuminated” the way for him returning.
“Vince being out of the picture probably illuminated the way,” he said. “That might have been one of the biggest things. That’s both ways, for everybody who is going to sensationalize a headline. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t him, there’s just a lot of history there. All of a sudden, one of us is removed from the equation, and I think it changed a lot of things.”
Punk also shared this photo of a backstage meetup with AEW’s Darby Allin and Brody King:
All the while this was going on Drew McIntyre was trolling his SummerSlam rival while in Nashville, making sure he got a photo-op with Jack Perry who was still cooling down from his AEW Blood & Guts battle.
AEW Panel
All Elite Wrestling ”maximized their minutes’ at the convention, with a Jazware panel that featured a big wrestling angle and a massive rollout of upcoming wrestling figures.
A skirmish occurred during the panel with all stars such as Swerve Strickland and Ospreay tried to break it up. The only man to remain neutral was Darby Allin who thought the two recent rivals should duke it out.
Mercedes Mone Cosplay
The CEO was in full villain mode as she was in a Poison Ivy from Batman cosplay and appropriately alongside her was her new enforcer, Kamille, who donned the mask and jacket of other Batman baddie Bane.
Wrestling Figures Galore
The reason wrestling had such a presence at SDCC was for the aforementioned line of figures both companies have in store and it’s quite a bit.
Mattel and WWE have several CM Punk figures set to release including a modern day version, but also the notorious Money In The Bank 2011 Punk blowing a kiss to Cena. Additionally, there is a variation of Punk wearing Randy Savage gear and the masked Straight Edge Society CM Punk.
Legends included in Mattel’s upcoming Monday Night Wars include Syxx, Curt Hennig, DDP, Ultimate Warrior, Big Bossman and Dusty Rhodes.
A lot of newer faces on the roster are getting the WWE figure treatment, including Zoey Stark, Jade Cargill, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci, Chase U and others.
AEW was far from resting on their laurels as plenty of special edition figures were revealed. A big release was a special pre-order of Mark and Jay Briscoe. There’s also a silver screen Toni Storm, House of Black three-pack and three eras of the recently retired Sting.
