A feud between CM Punk and "Hangman" Adam Page has been simmering for months, and viewers will finally see these two square off at AEW Double or Nothing on May 29 in Las Vegas. Punk defeated Eddie Kingston at AEW Full Gear in mid-November of last year and set the internet ablaze by using the title belt celebration popularized by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Page dethroned Kenny Omega to win the AEW World Championship in a 25-minute classic on that same card and has seemingly been on a collision course with the Second City Saint since then.
It took AEW a while to get there, but as Punk wrapped up his potential feud of the year with MJF, it became clear that he would be next in line for a shot at the World Championship. He had an on-screen staredown with Hangman on the April 20 episode of AEW Dynamite, and it has since been made official: the two will battle in the main event of AEW Double or Nothing. Given what Punk's presence has done for ratings in the past, including helping AEW Rampage beat WWE during last year's build to SummerSlam, this should be a slam dunk match. Here's the kicker, though. As it stands right now, this will be a face vs face matchup between two of the most beloved performers in wrestling today. That can not still be the case when AEW rolls into Vegas for the first time in three years.
Punk cut an All Elite Wrestling promo after the Double or Nothing main event tilt was announced, and he sounded a lot like his old nemesis, John Cena, while doing so, stating, "without you, there is no me. Without you, I don't come back after seven years. Without you, I don't make it to Double or Nothing." That's all well and fine, but it does neither of these performers any good to waste this feud as a face vs face affair. This is especially true if there are long-term plans for this particular vendetta, and it doesn't seem like AEW to hotshot something like Page vs Punk with less than a month of dedicated on-screen time.
With only a few weeks to build this rivalry up to pay-per-view main event tension, a heel turn seems inevitable. After AEW put so much time, effort, and airtime into building Page up as a Fighting Champion, it'd make virtually no sense for them to turn him heel. He has too much momentum as a lovable underdog-turned-top dog and could be pushed to another level entirely by a proper villain. There are tons of dream matches for CM Punk in AEW, and this program with Page is chief among them. Audiences just need a proper setup for the sake of storytelling.
This is where heel CM Punk comes in. It's a gear that viewers know he has and one that he may even prefer to operate in. He is one of the best tweeners of all time, and even his famous "pipe bomb" promo includes potshots at the fans. His work as a bad guy in Ring of Honor is the stuff of legends, and his presence as a WWE antagonist is arguably what propelled Cena to the level he still finds himself at to this day. A hero is only as strong as the evildoer he's going toe to toe with, and Punk provides Page with a perfect foil: a straightedge veteran fighting to remain relevant against the beer-swilling Hangman.
Maybe this is something viewers see happen at Double or Nothing itself. Perhaps these two will show each other nothing but respect leading up to the show, with Punk slowly realizing he can't win fair and square. After all, AEW certainly has gone out of its way to make the veteran look vulnerable in matches against the likes of Dustin Rhodes and Penta Oscuro. Regardless of how the lead-up goes, this matchup is begging for a proper heel, and it ought to be CM Punk who turns on Page.
