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Love him or hate him, CM Punk is one of the most influential figures in pro wrestling of all time. Following an eventful AEW All In, The Straight Edge Superstar flew back to the United States to receive a prestigious award.
At the event, he caught up with some of his former colleagues, including WWE legend Mickie James.
The 57th annual Cauliflower Alley Club reunion award ceremony was held from August 28-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Punk received the Iron Mike Mazurki Award, the club's highest honor, which is bestowed upon individuals "who have made exceptional contributions to professional wrestling and have exhibited outstanding dedication to the sport both inside and outside the ring."
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After being honored with the award, the 44-year-old cut an unscripted 45-minute-long speech in front of approximately 400 banquet attendees.
The following is the excerpt from his speech:
"When people tell me that they don’t like me or that the internet is mad at me, I just chuckle because Roddy Piper liked me. Dusty Rhodes liked me and Harley Race liked me. And that means more than anything else in the world because these legends put their stamp on me before anyone else did. It gave me the confidence and it gave me the ability to succeed," Punk said (H/T- SlamWrestling)
After the ceremony, CM Punk took to Instagram to share a photo with Mickie James and Rey Mysterio from the event. The latter was the recipient of the Women's Wrestling Award on Tuesday night.
The Second City Saint was also spotted hanging out with JBL, Serena Deeb, and Ron Simmons, to name a few.
What's next for CM Punk in AEW?
CM Punk had a rough night at All In this past weekend. Moments before his opener against Samoa Joe, the Chicago native reportedly got into a physical altercation with Jack Perry following his "real glass" reference aimed at his alleged beef with Punk.
For those unaware, the company suspended both men pending the results of an investigation. As per the reports, CM Punk "chewed out" AEW President Tony Khan and once again threatened to quit his company.
The word coming from CM Punk's camp is that he now "hates this place." With All Out set to emanate from his hometown of Chicago, it will be interesting to see if AEW will bring him back to thwart fans from hijacking the United Center.
