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CM Punk wrestling again is a topic...again, after the apparent fallout with AEW and what it could mean for the pro wrestling landscape.

But for all the possibilities and fantasy booking, there's only one name who made sense before his big return from a seven-year hiatus and that one name remains as the only one able to justify a re-return.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Don't scoff. This is a dream feud that fans wanted to see for a decade or more but it never came to fruition despite the occasional wink or nod toward one.

Austin himself, regardless of age, just had a fun two-night performance at last year's WrestleMania in that feud with Kevin Owens. He can clearly still cut a promo, have a good feud and go in the ring and there's more room than ever over two-night events to make it work.

Wildy enough, the hangup in such an idea isn't the 57-year-old Austin, but the divisive Punk.

Punk's superb comeback and year or so of great showings screeched to a halt with the combo of an injury and the fallout with AEW that has him missing from the company and his future a question mark.

By the time Punk heals, perhaps time itself mends any wounds with stars within AEW and the promotion itself and all involved can turn it into a feud. But at this point, MJF getting more cheers than Punk in Chicago and some of the crowd reactions since then would seem to make his return to feud with the likes of Matt and Nick Jackson, plus others, too risky.

For Punk, there might be more in it to give WWE another look. For WWE, it's a no-brainer. It's abundantly clear he still moves the needle in a way 99 percent of pro wrestlers can't, so bringing him on in a part-time capacity for major feuds (or in this case a very specific one-off or series with one guy) would make perfect sense.

Punk might still have his issues with WWE and vice versa, but the company has always been willing to mend fences for the sake of the business. While the two didn't seem to mesh well, both Punk and Triple H could probably reach some sort of agreement—especially if the carrot dangling from the stick is a historic feud with Austin.

Think about how fun the build to one of the most-requested feuds ever would be. Austin would have plenty of ammo on Punk given his now two splits with companies, never mind the low-hanging fruit of poking fun at his non-wrestling stumbles in the MMA world, if not otherwise.

And Punk? Any shots fired at the "smaller" promotion AEW is a big win for WWE, never mind his blurring the lines by potentially taking shots at WWE and those within, too. Or, bonus points if he comes back some sort of heel-corporate character, letting Austin play an even bigger babyface. Never mind, of course, accusing Austin of being a sellout at his age and the standard-fare promo stuff.

General dislike for Punk probably goes away fast once that static hits again in either promotion (time heals all, too). And if it's in WWE, a much broader audience probably isn't even as tuned in to what went down in AEW. But WWE could really lean into that heel idea if it happens because it's straight-up impossible to name two guys on the opposite ends of the love-hate spectrum right now in a way that bleeds through to real life.

At this point, anything but Austin feels almost too risky for another Punk return. Sure, he could have some internet-savvy promos with "Hangman" Adam Page, Kenny Omega or someone similar, but is it really worth the roll of the dice? Same story in WWE, where the list of viable feuds just keeps shrinking.

Punk-Austin, at least, would keep both guys away from titles but still give WWE something capable of headlining one of the two nights of WrestleMania. Keep in mind we're not talking WrestleMania 39 in California, which seemingly belongs to The Rock, never mind Punk's current injury comeback schedule. This is more about 40 in Philadelphia.

WWE loves its spectacle at Mania and there are few bigger things on the road to Mania possible than the glass breaking to interrupt Punk or the static to interrupt Austin, signifying two similar legends from different eras who never linked up, finally doing so.

Time's almost out on a Punk-Austin dance, so everything else can wait. If Punk comes back to wrestling one more time, Austin would seemingly be right there and available to give fans the dream feud.

It was quite a week for Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett.

The seven days leading up to Saturday's UFC 282 event, which went down from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, came with a bit of controversy for the Liverpool, England native. Fortunately for the fan favorite, Pimblett's week ended on an up note with a unanimous-decision defeat of fellow lightweight Jared Gordon following a back-and-forth bout that was probably closer than his post-fight brashness would allow him to acknowledge.

"It wasn't close…not at all," Pimblett told UFC color commentator and incredibly famous podcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "I won the first two rounds, then I coasted in the third because I knew I was up."

That's not the way other observers saw it.

Gordon, who was an underdog coming into the bout, gave Pimblett a run for his money and then some—and far more of one than Pimblett initially let on.

"Jared is one tough m-----------r," he acknowledged. "You know what I mean? He's a tough man."

Gordon appeared to get the better of Pimblett in the opening round, landing the more accurate and precise strikes. They traded kicks to open the round, followed by an exchange of punches. It unfolded into a solid action round, with Gordon ending up in top position to end the round after a brief ground sequence. According to UFC stats, Gordon landed 58 percent of his significant strike attempts in the round compared with 41 percent for Pimblett.

The second round landed pretty solidly on the Liverpudlian's ledger. The first major offense of the round was a left kick from Pimblett, which Gordon partially blocked but still absorbed. From there it was a back-and-forth round, with both men landing solid blows. A Pimblett left hook found the body.

The thing about Pimblett is how hittable he is. Some fans may forget that he made his bones as a grappler back in his days on the European circuit. Instead of working his craft, however, he keeps his hands low and looks for the brawl instead. And he got it from Gordon, who traded with Pimblett inside the proverbial phone booth. A late flurry from Pimblett—following an eye-poke warning, no less—helped seal the round.

Early in the third, Gordon scored a takedown on Pimblett to the mat briefly, though the action ultimately returned to the clinch. After some inactivity, the boos rained down in the arena, but this was Gordon's wheelhouse. The third round was a bit of a slog, but ended with Gordon racking up a dominant 3:53 of control time.

There's a well-worn saying in MMA: never leave it in the hands of the judges. Gordon, despite a workmanlike effort, ultimately fell short in a close contest that saw both fighters give and take a lot of offense. The final score, all 29-28 scores for Pimblett.

(It should be noted that the UFC 282 main event, a bout for the vacant light heavyweight title between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, ended in a questionable judges' decision that resulted in a split draw and no new champion crowned.)

In thanking Gordon on the mic afterwards, Pimblett referenced Gordon's "trials and tribulations" in a clear nod to Gordon's public battles with addiction—addiction so serious that an overdose once purportedly left him "legally dead" for two minutes. He even expressed interest in getting involved with Gordon's charitable efforts around the issue.

There's no question Pimblett can come off as a likable dude. He's certainly the president of his own fan club, and that's always entertaining in and of itself. But his comments earlier in fight week showed a less-charming side.

UFC 282 fight week had its own tempest in a teapot, courtesy of Pimblett. In cozying up on a podcast hosted by none other than UFC president Dana White, Pimblett accused widely known MMA reporter Ariel Helwani of lacking journalistic integrity and suggested he should pay his interview subjects for their time. It was a much more understandable line of thinking when remembering that White has long feuded with Helwani.

On his own show, Helwani offered an extended, vigorous response to the comments, which provided their own ripple effect, and so on.

Pimblett seemed to attempt to make light of it in his post-fight chat with Rogan, asking Rogan "have you consulted my manager to see how much you're paying me for this interview?"

I'm not his manager or anything, but someone might want to give Pimblett some good, old-fashioned media training. Not just on what to say but how it works. Respecting and understanding the professions of those around you is key for a guy whose star is only continuing to grow. Wow, that made me sound like an old man.

As for what's next inside the lines, Pimblett was coy when Rogan asked him about his next opponent.

"We'll see," he said.

Pimblett is now 20-3 overall and 4-0 since jumping to the UFC in 2021. This was the first of his fights to go to a decision. He's got a high-wattage personality, he's got flaws in his game that leave him vulnerable to the right opponent, and he's a talented and genuinely tough competitor with all the makes of a tentpole star for the UFC, across the pond as well as in Las Vegas.

The Paddy Pimblett hype train is still on the rails, but its pace has slowed to a crawl.

The Baddy from Liverpool, one of the most popular young fighters in MMA today, returned to action in the co-headlining attraction of Saturday night's UFC 282 card in Las Vegas, taking on New York's Jared Gordon.

It was viewed as the toughest test of the Brit's career after stoppage wins in his first three UFC bouts. And while he ultimately passed it with a unanimous-decision victory, the context of that result is impossible to ignore.

It was kind of bogus.

From an early vantage point, this fight looked like a layup for Pimblett. It was clear that he was the bigger, more powerful man in the cage. It seemed like he would have a speed advantage. He seemed to be the better grappler on paper.

And while he has shown some massive holes in his striking defense in previous fights, his opponent Gordon has never had much in the way of stopping power, so Pimblett's chances in a firefight looked good, too.

Even the crowd was behind the Brit, abandoning the U-S-A chants they had favored in earlier matchups on the card to shower him in cheers and pelt their countryman with boos.

With full respect for Gordon, who long ago proved himself to be a serviceable fighter, it really looked as though he had been brought in to lose.

But he fought a great fight. An excellent fight.

Within the first minute of the first round, he had cracked Pimblett with several sizzling left hooks, capitalizing on the Brit's defensive shortcomings with practiced efficiency. Commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier hummed nervously as it happened, sensing, like many viewers, that things could get bad for The Baddy in a blink.

While the Brit survived that opening stanza, he continued to eat big shots into Round 2, some of them pretty substantial. He counterbalanced that adversity with some brief patches of success on the mat but also found himself struggling with Gordon in that phase of the game—a worrying sign considering he was supposed to be the better grappler in the matchup.

In Round 3, it was more of the same: Gordon doing better work on the feet and the mat, and Pimblett hanging in there, seemingly a step behind wherever the fight went.

By the time the third round had ended, most fans and pundits on Twitter were in agreement that Gordon had won at least two rounds and should therefore win a decision should the fight go the distance.

But all three judges scored it for Pimblett, promoting immediate cries of "robbery" all over social media. We throw that word around a lot in MMA, to the point that it has lost a lot of its meaning, but in the case, it might be the best word to describe the situation.

Just look at the post-fight stats.

Gordon landed slightly more total strikes (100 to 97) and had a much better accuracy rate (57 to 40 percent) regarding significant strikes. He had also completed three of six takedown attempts, which he used to wrack up 6:28 of control time. Meanwhile, Pimblett failed on all three of his attempts and only controlled 0:35 of action on the mat.

The thousands of Pimblett fans in Las Vegas were clearly happy to hear their man announced as the winner, but the truth is that there was little merit to the Brit's victory and that the outcome will only hurt him going forward.

Contrary to Pimblett's massive popularity, there have always been legitimate questions about his ceiling. He's clearly capable of beating lower-level fighters, but after three losses outside the UFC, and an early scare in his promotional debut against Luigi Vendramini, there has been plenty of reason to doubt he has the skill to compete with the best of the best.

An impressive stoppage win over a veteran like Gordon would have done a lot to dispel those doubts. A convincing decision victory might have been even more valuable in that regard.

Instead, we watched Pimblett get out-fought for three rounds and walk away with a win nonetheless. That outcome will only give credence to his naysayers' arguments and embolden his haters. It also puts the UFC's matchmakers in a tough spot.

The Brit is now 4-0 in the promotion, which would ordinarily warrant a step up to the next level, but after UFC 282, there's less reason than ever to believe he's ready for that level.

One way or the other, he will need a seriously impressive performance in his next fight if he intends to get his hype train back up to full speed.