Khan is the 38-year-old son of Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC owner Shad Khan, and has served at an executive level for both professional sports franchises. He was one week away from announcing that AEW, his upstart wrestling promotion, would be launching in 2019 with Khan as the president and CEO.
Khan, also a Chicago native, was home for the holidays. TONY KHAN REMEMBERS the first time he sat down for a meeting with Punk. Perfect storm."ĬM Punk has received roaring reactions from the AEW crowd in his first few appearances for the company. I don't know if there's ever gonna be another chance for anybody to do something like that again. "I'm never going to get a chance to do something like that again. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime spot," Punk said of his return. There were multiple sold-out arenas, record-setting T-shirt sales and $500 ice cream bars along the way, but at its core, it's about a man who has finally come home. The story of Punk's return goes much deeper than that. On Sunday, he'll perform in his first match back, against Darby Allin - a wrestler that Punk said would be his favorite if he was a teenager right now -at AEW's All Out pay-per-view event at NOW Arena, near his hometown of Chicago. Punk, one of the most beloved wrestlers of the modern era, had officially returned to pro wrestling for the first time since he left WWE in 2014 under the most acrimonious of circumstances.
Punk tried to settle down by watching some of the wrestling matches being taped for other AEW shows prior to the live Rampage broadcast, but he couldn't sit still or focus. The former WWE champion and UFC fighter was nervous and anxious as he entered his hometown venue. 20, about 4½ hours before he was scheduled to make his return to professional wrestling after more than seven years away on All Elite Wrestling's "Rampage." CM PUNK arrived at the United Center in Chicago at about 4:30 p.m.