CM Punk Says Making AEW Debut Was 'No. 1 Moment of My Career'

Debuting in All Elite Wrestling is something CM Punk won't soon forget.

Punk said on ESPN's SportsNation Wednesday that walking through the curtain on AEW Dynamite in August was "pretty crazy" and "the No. 1 moment of my career." (His comments begin around the 1:40 mark.)

"I've been fortunate; I've done a lot of cool things," he said. "... To come back after seven years and have that be the response shows you, I think, that I left my fingerprints all over the industry."

Punk had a bitter divorce from WWE in 2014 and later aired out his longstanding grievances with the company.

Paul Heyman, who worked closely with Punk in WWE, also told Chris Jericho in 2014 the former world champion had been disgruntled for some time.

"Every day with him was an exercise in him finding the balance to simply continue on and find the passion he needed that he to do it," Heyman said (via Grahame Herbert of WhatCulture).

That likely made Punk's AEW debut feel all the more cathartic. His emotion was evident as he basked in the cheers from his hometown crowd in Chicago.

From a fan's perspective, it felt like watching somebody fall in love with wrestling again.

Given what it represented, it's not a surprise that Punk lists it at the top of his achievements.