AEW

CM Punk was the wrestling world’s hottest free agent for seven years, but now he’s a company man once more. The former WWE Champion is officially signed to All Elite Wrestling, debuting with the promotion on Friday’s edition of Rampage — and creating an all-time great moment in the process.

So what next?

Punk’s return is part of the build to All Out, one of AEW’s quarterly pay-per-views. He’ll wrestle Darby Allin, one of the company’s biggest home-grown stars. The show’s main event — or at least, it’s main championship bout — will see Kenny Omega defend the AEW Championship against Christian Cage.

The show takes place on Sept. 5, here’s what you need to know about it.

CM Punk’s return

After a month of rumor and speculation, CM Punk officially returned to wrestling on the Aug. 20 episode of AEW Rampage. The whispers started with a report from Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, one of wrestling’s most reliable journalists. Sapp reported on July 22 that CM Punk has been in talks with AEW for an in-ring return.

These whispers became shouts on the July 28 episode of Dynamite. At the beginning of the show, a special edition of Rampage was announced. (Note: Rampage debuted last Friday, so this Friday’s episode is only the second episode.) It’ll be called The First Dance, and will broadcast out of Chicago’s United Center. With Punk being synonymous with Chicago, the Dynamite crowd broke out into a “CM Punk” chant. In the very next segment, Darby Allin said AEW is the only place to prove you’re the greatest — “even if you think you’re the best in the world.”

“The Best in the World” was CM Punk’s moniker during his run in WWE. With Darby’s allusion to Punk coming straight after the announcement of Chicago’s show, the wrestling world has taken that as a confirmation that Punk is bound to appear at Friday’s Rampage to set up a match against Darby at All Out.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Punk opened the Aug. 20 episode of Rampage to a massive reaction from the ground, gave a rousing and from-the-heart speech to the fans, and capped it off by challenging Darby Allin to a match at All Out. It’ll be hist first official wrestling match since the 2014 Royal Rumble — the last time Punk wrestled, Barack Obama was still president and The Undertaker still had an undefeated WrestleMania streak.

How to watch All Out, Start times

AEW All Out is available via PPV at $60, but it’s also available on streaming services. If you’re in the US, it’ll be $50 through B/R Live. In the UK and Australia, you’ll instead watch it through Fite TV, where it costs $20 (GBP14, AU$25).

The Bleacher Report Live app is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, iOS and Android. Fite TV is available on all of the above plus Xbox, PlayStation and Smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sharp, Sony and Panasonic.

The main show kicks off at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, with a preshow starting an hour before that. For grappling fans in the UK, All Out’s main show begins early Monday at 1 a.m. GMT (midnight Sunday preshow). Down Under, the show begins at 10 a.m. AEST (9 a.m. preshow).

The announced matches, more of which are to come, are as follows:

AEW Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage.CM Punk vs. Darby Allin (with Sting).Pac vs. Andrade El Idolo.Paul White vs. QT Marshall.Steel Cage AEW Tag Team Championship match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. winner of the Tag Team Eliminator.Women’s Casino Battle Royale.