CM Punk on those initials on his shoes, and preparing for Darby Allin’s suicide dive

CM Punk is doing a lot of media ahead of his first match in more than seven years at All Out this Sunday (Sept. 5).

So far, it’s given us a Bizzaro World scene where he was interviewed on ESPN by fellow WWE exes Charly Arnolt & Arda Orcal, and a piece from the New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski that gets to the bottom of some pressing wrestling fan questions.

Last week, the wrestle web noticed Punk’s shoes have been adorned with some interesting letters. Internet sleuths were quick to deduce he was sending coded messages about other talents who might be following him to AEW. Maybe that is the case. But the proud Chicagoan is playing them off as just another way to rep his hometown.

“I stole this from LeBron James; a lot of basketball players will write messages on their shoes and stuff. I wrote AC on my shoes and CF on the other foot. AC is Always Chicago and CF is Chicago Forever.”

Still doesn’t explain “BW”, but okay.

Even before he officially returned, Punk’s been putting over his All Out opponent Darby Allin - and specifically Allin’s suicide dive. When Staszewski asked if he was ready to take the move, Punk joked about he’s preparing to get hit by Darby at full blast:

“No. (Laughs) I was biking a little bit. I got a full head of steam and I ran right into the back of a semi. I’m almost there.”

Sounds dangerous, but so does letting Allin hurl himself at you like a missile.

There’s lots of other good stuff in both those interviews linked about, much of it on ground Punk’s already covered about why he decided to sign with All Elite, and how special his debut in Chicago on the Aug. 20 Rampage was.

But we figured you’d want these very important and 100% honest scoops asap.