Why Freddie Prinze Jr. Says CM Punk's AEW Collision Promo Wasn't His Best

Considering the reaction he got online and in front of his hometown crowd, many people were very happy with the second coming of CM Punk on the debut episode of "AEW Collision." The former AEW World Champion opened the broadcast with a promo declaring his intentions with this return, and taking small jabs at the situation surrounding his last appearance in the company. However, the segment didn't necessarily land with everyone in the audience, including Freddie Prinze Jr.

On "Wrestling with Freddie," the former WWE writer/producer chimed in about the "Second City Saint's" address to the AEW faithful during the promotion's newest weekly series. While he holds the veteran performer in very high regard, especially on the mic, Prinze took Punk to task and found the lies that the wrestler asked us all to find.

"I wanted to love this promo," Prinze said. "I think CM Punk is one of the best to ever speak into a microphone, 'best' being a very short list. Maybe four dudes. I guess if you didn't see the ESPN interview, then it's a great promo. But if you did see the ESPN interview, he kept asking me to call out the lie and there were at least three of them. I don't know if the ESPN interview was out of character and this is in character, but he floats the line, so it's harder to tell. I don't want to talk smack or anything like that, but it was just weird to me... He structured the promo beautifully. The promo kicks ass. I'm just answering his question. He challenged us to find the lie, so I'm finding the lies."

Prinze then goes on to list the inconsistencies in the promo. First, he points out that Punk stated that he wouldn't bring the fallout from the Brawl Out incident into any storylines. Yet, one of the first things that Punk does when he gets a microphone is call out the Young Bucks by referring to them as "counterfeit bucks." Next, Punk proclaims to be unapologetic for being who he is and what he has done. But referring to the ESPN interview again, Prinze says that Punk did show remorse for what happened at the scrum. Finally, the host addressed Punk's closing note about the bag that he brought to the ring with him. Presumably, that sack contained his AEW World Championship belt that he technically never lost, so the "Best in the World" was declaring that he's the true titleholder. But Prinze found the way Punk presented this information to be a little backward.

"The final thing was that this business is for adults," Prinze concluded. "It's the professional wrestling business. And I agree 100%. But to go out there and essentially hijack the world championship storyline away from Adam Cole, who just came back from a concussion and is in the middle of a storyline with MJF seemed to me like going into business for himself and not going along with the storyline, which is specifically what he's so against."

Co-host Jeff Dye then chimed in to sum up their shared feelings. He said rather than a confident, nonchalant person, Punk comes off as "a bitter guy who cares a lot." And despite remaining largely complimentary of Punk's overall skills throughout the analysis, Prinze said this promo was "a little off and not [Punk's] best" and "wasn't worthy of a mic drop."