What you missed from CM Punk after AEW Collision went off the air

In a hard hitting main event, CMFTR took on the team of Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson) to close the debut episode of the new AEW offering.
Taking a quick and notably lighthearted digression from an important message, CM Punk first touched on his past ice cream purchase for his original Chicago AEW debut.

CM Punk explained that he would have bought the crowd ice cream again:
“except I thought you all hated me, but we’re coming back soon. Don’t worry. You better hope that I don’t hate you before then.” [laugh]

While it seemed Pepsi Phil was joking, it is entirely possible that the next time Chicago meets with their hometown hero, he may not be on such warm and fuzzy terms with the crowd as it remains to be seen which direction the returning Punk will go.
In his first appearance on AEW since the change in set design, CM Punk notably took pause while leaving the entrance ramp, heading to the ‘right’ which was traditionally the ‘babyface’ tunnel.
Punk went on to share a more meaningful message, having mentioned the ice cream bars from last time as the company who produced them recently received hate online after Punk shared about the company donating proceeds to causes that support trans youth.

While he considered clapping back, he did share an important wisdom of why he didn’t waste his time, noting: “you can’t fix stupid.”
Let that be a lesson to us all when seeing rude comments from online trolls!
CM Punk went on to take a moment to acknowledge a sign from the AEW Collision crowd that said “Support Trans Kids,” and shared with the crowd that he supports trans kids, adults, LGBTQ, “everybody” because he recalls when he was young, he didn’t feel like he fit in anywhere but it was because of the clothes he wore, his hair and the music he liked.

All of those things were things that he could “rectify” through changing a preference but to feel that he was “trapped in a body he didn’t belong in,” seemed an experience worth supporting out of compassion.
Punk ended his chat with the crowd by adding:
“I want everybody to be themselves, just do no harm to anybody else. Thank you. I love you.”
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CM PUNK SAID LGBTQ+ RIGHTS. HE SAID SUPPORT TRANS PEOPLE pic.twitter.com/LUj9zzsH4x

— abbi (@abbipaperbag) June 18, 2023