CM Punk: Me, Bryan Danielson & Adam Cole Joining AEW Is Bigger Than The Outsiders Joining WCW

CM Punk believes the arrivals of himself, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole in All Elite Wrestling will have a bigger impact on the state of professional wrestling than when Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall moved to WCW in 1996.

Punk, who returned to wrestling after a seven-year absence with AEW, competed in his first match since 2014 at AEW All Out, defeating Darby Allin. On the same show on Sunday, Cole and Danielson made their respective debuts for the promotion, having both left WWE earlier this year.

The signing of Punk, Cole and Danielson is considered a real show of intent for a wrestling promotion that has only existed since 2019 and the Second City Saviour is not underestimating how impactful the trio could be for AEW.

When asked in the post AEW All Out media scrum how big signing Cole and Danielson could be for the promotion, Punk responded: "Obviously, I think it’s going to be very impactful. I’m not personally in the business of war or competing. I know who the competition is and who the competition isn’t. To me, we focus on ourselves. We focus on the talent. We focus on the people in the building and I think that’s how we grow.

"It’s not about throwing stones and I know TNT loves ratings and I know everybody’s going to look at that stuff and compare that. For a company that’s only been around for two years, I think they’re doing great.

"If you’re competing with somebody on another night that’s got a 30-year head-start, that’s fine. But to me, our competition is our audience. As long as we keep them engaged and keep them happy, and I think that, to bring it back around, that’s what we’re doing.

"So, I’m not Hogan or Savage. Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole, they’re not The Outsiders, I see the parallels, but this is totally different. I’ll go ahead and say it and people can quote me and they’ll be p*ssed off about it, but to me, this is bigger."

H/T Fightful