In a recent episode of the “No Contest Wrestling” podcast, famed wrestler CM Punk reminisced about a 2010 wrestling match with Steve Austin, which took place off-air in San Diego. The climatic ending involved Austin unleashing a series of ‘stunners’ on Punk, The Miz, and R-Truth.
Punk discussed how these off-air or “dark” matches with Austin came about. He explained that Austin, despite having retired, was often present at matches. On the day in question, Punk noticed the legendary wrestler sitting alone backstage. Austin had finished his segment for the day, and Punk offered him the chance to join the dark match. This involved Austin making a surprise appearance and delivering stunners to the delight of the audience.
CM Punk also recalled how he convinced Austin to participate. After sharing his idea, he saw a spark in Austin’s eyes. All he had to do was rally Miz and Truth to also take stunners from Austin. Punk lauded them as “nerds and geeks taking stunners from Austin”, sharing the joy they felt in participating in such a segment.
In another wrestling update, Bronson Reed discussed a moment from the August 5th WWE RAW episode. On the show, Reed performed six of his ‘Tsunamis’ on Seth Rollins, resulting in a two-month hiatus for Rollins. In a conversation on the “Insight” podcast, Reed declared that the multiple finishers weren’t originally planned. It was the crowd’s response and proactivity that propelled him to deliver more.
Rollins made his return on the September 30th WWE RAW episode, where he encountered Reed during a Last Monster Standing match with Braun Strowman.