CM Punk

In his first television match since returning to professional wrestling after a seven-year hiatus, CM Punk defeated Powerhouse Hobbs on Friday night on the Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York.

The Best in the World pinned Hobbs clean after hitting him with the GTS. 

Prior to hitting his signature finisher, Punk also broke out some of his old favorites, including the top-rope elbow drop. 

Punk made his long-awaited return to wrestling last month when he announced he signed with AEW, and it wasn't long after that he returned to the ring as part of the All Out pay-per-view in a suburb of his hometown of Chicago on Sept. 5.

The 42-year-old veteran beat Darby Allin at the event and continued to soak in the adulation of the AEW fanbase in subsequent weeks.

While sitting at the commentary table, Taz interrupted a Punk promo and told him to stop mentioning the names of Team Taz members. Taz was referring to Punk listing Hobbs and Ricky Starks as opponents he would potentially like to face.

A furious Punk told Taz to line up Hobbs, Starks and even Hook so he could go through them one by one.

On the next episode of Dynamite, Punk began the night on commentary, but he didn't finish, as Hobbs and Hook attacked him.

Hobbs put Punk through the table, which set the stage for a match between them being made official for Rampage.

Punk made his AEW debut on the second-ever episode of Rampage, and Rampage also played host to his first match on regular television since he reentered the wrestling world.

It represented a unique challenge for Punk as well since Hobbs had a massive size and strength advantage. That was a departure from the match against Allin in which Punk was the bigger competitor.

While Hobbs gave Punk all he could handle, Punk's experience and veteran savvy won out, as he improved his AEW record to 2-0.

Now, the door could be open for Punk to enter into a rivalry with Starks since he has already gotten past one member of Team Taz.

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AEW wrestler and executive vice president Cody Rhodes showered CM Punk with praise Wednesday prior to the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Rhodes noted that Punk has helped break multiple AEW records in terms of viewership and merchandise sales since joining the company in August (beginning at 1:50 mark):

"From a data standpoint, every record we have, he instantly broke," Rhodes said. "I think we added 12 new servers to our ShopAEW.com site in terms of the merchandise he was able to put out there. Ratings, you know, they come down to the No. 1 on cable series and it averages a little over 1 million, but if you look at his segments specifically, they're nearing 2 million in terms of overall views. He really was a flashpoint in wrestling. Every wrestler should know the prominence he brings."

To Rhodes' point, Pro Wrestling Tees announced that Punk's AEW debut shirt broke the record for most shirt sales in 24 hours on the site, and it also became the best-selling shirt of all time for PWT in less than 72 hours.

Also, Punk's AEW debut on the Aug. 20 Rampage drew 1.129 million viewers, which was nearly 400,000 more viewers than the next-best-rated Rampage thus far.

Punk's AEW in-ring debut against Darby Allin at AEW All Out near his hometown of Chicago helped contribute to a sold-out show and reportedly over 200,000 pay-per-view buys as well.

It had been over seven years since Punk last stepped inside a pro wrestling ring before his AEW debut, and every measure suggests fans have been starving to see him back in the fold.

Punk will compete in his second AEW match Friday night on Rampage when he takes on Powerhouse Hobbs at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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