CM Punk On Wrestling Young Talent In AEW: It’s My ‘Lazarus Pit,’ I Want To Keep Working With Them
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
CM Punk wants to keep wrestling young stars in All Elite Wrestling.
That’s exactly what he’s done since he returned to the ring in AEW; he faced Darby Allin at the company’s All Out pay-per-view, and in his first match on television in seven years, he’s set to face Powerhouse Hobbs Friday night on AEW Rampage: Grand Slam.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, “The Second City Saint” described how AEW’s roster is filled with new stars who are gifted with an incredible amount of “raw charisma” and he shared his belief that this abundance fills an absence that wrestling has been missing. He specifically named Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs and Brian Pillman Jr. during this description.
“The naked eye shows these guys are oozing with potential,” said Punk. “The list of young guys like that in AEW is staggering. For so long, I saw people in an office position and go, ‘This is the guy,’ instead of saying, ‘These are the people.’ That’s the animus of wrestling Powerhouse Hobbs or Darby Allin, and I think Brian Pillman Jr. is another one of those guys.
“They have this raw charisma; they have ‘it.’ That’s been lacking in our industry for so long, and AEW is capitalizing on all of that star power.”
On an individual level, Punk explained how facing a talent like Hobbs rejuvenates him and fuels him with excitement and passion in fresh, exciting ways. For these reasons, Punk made it clear that he aims to keep wrestling young stars ” as long as he can.”
“Selfishly, I want to wrestle Powerhouse Hobbs,” Punk said. “It just looks like fun. What he does can really fit with what I do. So to harness that potential and feel the crowd, and feel the youthful exuberance. This is my Lazarus Pit, this is my fountain of youth and I’m going to wrestle the young guys as long as I can.”
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