“Sent back to aew by that chop”- Wrestling fans wince at CM Punk getting wrecked by current WWE Champion during live event

The Voice of the Voiceless, CM Punk, learned it the hard way what it's like to be on the receiving end of a Gunther chop.

“Sent back to aew by that chop”- Wrestling fans wince at CM Punk getting wrecked by current WWE Champion during live event

CM Punk [via- WWE]

WWE is pulling out all the stops for its ongoing European tour. On Saturday, the company visited Northern Ireland for a show house in Belfast. CM Punk took on Gunther in a match that many would hope ended up on the WrestleMania card. Anyway, as it happened, the match didn’t have a clean finish. Instead, both men were counted out.

In a snippet posted by WWE across its socials, one could see The Best in the World’s reaction after being hit by Gunther’s knife-edged chop. The Chicagoan fell to the mat, and his eyes said it all. At one point last year, there were rumors of Punk potentially challenging The Ring General for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series.

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The former AEW star outright teased it during a post-match interview after beating Drew McIntyre in a strap match at Bash in Berlin. However, it wasn’t to be. There’s a chunk of fans that’s seething at the prospect of Gunther having WrestleMania-caliber matches during live events in Europe. Because how could one not drool over the Austrian battling AJ Styles?

They recently went at it, with netizens blaming WWE CCO Triple H for messing up Gunther’s world title reign. Since last August, the Imperium boss has barely wrestled outside of PLEs. The 37-year-old has a not quite daunting but tricky task at hand next month. A red-hot Jey Uso, whom the live crowds adore, has a date with The Ring General at Allegiant Stadium on a yet-to-be-decided night of WrestleMania 41.

Fans rage at WWE ‘wasting’ CM Punk vs. Gunther at a house show

On expected lines, the online reactions to Gunther vs. CM Punk being held at a house show are polarizing. A ton of folks asserted that this should’ve been the world title match at WrestleMania, let alone the main event of night 1.

CM Punk and Gunther
CM Punk and Gunther [via- WWE]

Referring to that aforementioned chop, a user quipped that it sent Punk packing to All Elite Wrestling. A handful of optimistic fans hoped that The Best in the World’s non-televised clash against the reigning World Heavyweight Champion means they’re on the cusp of feuding soon.

However, that does seem unlikely, as Gunther is expected to lose to The Yeet Master at The Showcase of the Immortals. While it’d be a feel-good moment for the vastly diverse WrestleMania crowd, the mere thought of Uso’s world title reign is alarming to many.

Fans believe that his Royal Rumble win has dominoed into a creative mess for WWE. Had John Cena won, he could’ve still gone on to face Cody Rhodes, which is the case now. But it would’ve allowed someone like Punk to book his WrestleMania berth inside the Elimination Chamber, where he finished as the runner-up to The Cenation Leader.

What did CM Punk do in his SmackDown appearance in Italy?

This week on SmackDown, The Second City Saint journeyed to Bologna for SmackDown. He confronted both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins and even acknowledged the favor that Paul Heyman still owes to him.

CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins
CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins on SmackDown [via- WWE]

But instead of revealing what it was, the 46-year-old blindsided The OTC, which ensued an all-out brawl. Punk, Reigns, and Rollins were at the mercy of one another and refused to let it go. A number of WWE officials had to barge in seeing the ‘top guns’ go berserk.

Each one of them took their time to point at the WrestleMania sign hanging up high, which had pretty much confirmed what’s in the cards. WWE has now sanctioned a triple-threat showdown involving those men. It remains to be seen if that main events the first night or not.

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