After punching their tickets to the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament, CM Punk and Samoa Joe found themselves booked for a match once more on the fourth edition of AEW Collision, marking the first time the long-time Ring of Honor rivals shared the ring in a non-tag team match since all the way back in 2005.

Boasting a 0-6 record against the “Samoan Submission Machine” over their previous singles encounters, Punk knew he was facing a tough road ahead of himself in the Owen Hart Cup but wanted to assure fans in Regina that he was going to give it his all, as he wanted to dedicate the match to “The King Of Harts.”

“Is it great to be alive in Regina on a Saturday night or what? I got a big match tonight against Samoa Joe, I don’t want to come out here and take up too much of your time, but there’s some history that needs to be detailed, and it’s not just about me, and it’s not just about Joe, it’s about everybody here in Regine, everybody here in Canada, everybody in Hart Stampede Country. I recognize the gravity of the moment, this is the biggest match of my career. If I could for a moment, if Joe kills me in a dream, he’d better wake up and apologize. Feels like the end of the tournament, feels like the finals of the tournament, but it's not; if I said it was, I’d be looking past Powerhouse Hobbs, I’d be looking past ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks. But tonight, history will be made; Samoa Joe has said it, and he is right, Kevin Kelly has said; time will stand still. Eighteen years since I’ve stood in the ring with Samoa Joe. I’ve got missing teeth because of this man,  I’ve got scars like a road map up and down my pretty face because of this man, and I am pretty,” Punk said.

“Bigger than me, bigger than Joe, bigger than Samoa Joe versus CM Punk, there is one name and that’s who I want to hear you chant for tonight and that’s Owen Hart. If it wasn’t for Owen Hart, a lot of that locker room would be empty right now. If it wasn’t for Owen Hart, I might not be here right now. So you can champion CM Punk, and you can put on a pedestal Samoa Joe, and you can talk about how powerful Powerhouse Hobbs is, and you can talk about how talented ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks is; none of us would be here if it was not for Owen Hart… I cannot promise a victory; I have never beaten Samoa Joe. A lot of people say I never will, Joe’s one of them, but I believe, and one thing I can promise you tonight, in that ring, win, lose, or draw, I will pour my heart out in between those four posts until there I nothing left to give and I will leave everything in that ring for me, for you, for you sitting at home and for Owen!”

Fortunately for Punk, he ultimately came out on top versus Joe, bringing his career record to 1-6 against the Ring of Honor Television Champion and bringing himself a win over Ricky Starks away from becoming the new Owen Hart Cup winner as a result. Assuming the “Best in the World” can recover from the Coquina Clutch Joe put him in after the match, Punk has to be the favorite to bring the pink strap home.

Dave Meltzer knew CM Punk would wrestle again in the future.

Discussing CM Punk in his conversation with Chris Van Vliet, Dave Meltzer was asked if he knew the “Best in the World” would return to professional wrestling when he was in the middle of a reported standoff with AEW.

In the Wrestling Observer scrib's opinion, he had a pretty good feeling Punk would wrestle again; he just wasn't how it would come together.

“I did not know 100% [Punk] would be back in AEW, but I knew he would be back wrestling somewhere,” Meltzer said via Wrestling Inc. “I know people in WWE, it was like, they're not going to take him. And it's like, ‘Maybe yes, maybe no,' but it was immaterial because Tony [Khan] wasn't going to release him. The thing is, at some point, I thought he would be back and probably in AEW. It didn't happen exactly the way I expected, but it did happen, and it's because he can draw, and a guy who has a history of drawing will always get that chance until the wheels are totally off. That's all.”

Ultimately, Punk is on Week 4 of his return to AEW, and while the Collision viewership numbers have dropped each week since its debut, the reception to the shows has been incredibly positive. If Punk continues to play ball, the sky really might be the limit on this run's potential.