When CM Punk made his wrestling return last year at AEW Rampage: The First Dance, he received a huge pop from the Chicago crowd. After his very first promo in AEW, Punk made a special announcement that he’d give away free ice cream bars to everyone who attended the show that night.
RELATED: The Legacy Of WWE Ice Cream Bars, Explained
And he wasn’t bluffing, fans did receive a frozen treat from Punk. Those who have only started following Punk after his AEW debut may not know the history behind The Cult of Personality and the ice cream bars.
CM Punk Asked WWE To Bring Back The Ice Cream Bars
On June 27, 2011, CM Punk cut his iconic pipebomb promo. He said several things that WWE didn’t like and got suspended in kayfabe as a result. However, his suspension was lifted next week by Vince McMahon upon John Cena’s request. Punk had already announced that after his Money in the Bank match against Cena, he’d leave the company.
RELATED: CM Punk's Pipebomb & 7 Other Times WWE Broke The Fourth Wall
A week later on Raw, Punk made his first appearance since the pipebomb promo. He had also brought himself a backup, in case his microphone got cut off again. Vince wanted him to re-sign with the company, and Punk wanted to do it on live television. Later that show, Vince and Punk finally had a segment where they negotiated a contract. McMahon had already prepared a contract for Punk. But because he didn’t like it, he asked his lawyers to draw a new one with several additional perks. One of the provisions Punk mentioned was that he wanted his face to be on everything. That included the Titantron, turnbuckles, shoes, socks, and even the WWE Ice Cream Bars. They were discontinued in 2008, but Punk wanted them to return. This request received a huge pop from fans who chanted “we want ice cream.”
WWE Teased It, But Then Disappointed The Fans
Well, for those who don’t know, WWE used to sell ice cream bars with their top superstars’ faces on them. They were first introduced in the late 80s by Gold Bond (that was later bought by Good Humor) and continued to sell until 2008. When Punk demanded their revival in 2011, fans almost believed that WWE is going to bring back their ice cream bars.
They fueled speculation by releasing a CM Punk Ice Cream Bar t-shirt too. Punk was also on that year’s TLC poster with an ice cream bar in his hands. He also appeared on an episode of Slam City as an ice-cream man. That episode was titled We All Scream for Ice Cream. Fans were very disappointed when even after all this, WWE still didn't bring back their ice cream bars.
Although Good Humor did bring back WWE Ice Cream Bars as Ice Cream Sandwiches some years ago. During an episode of WWE Backstage, Punk tasted one and rated it 4 out of 10. Needless to say, WWE's Ice Cream Sandwiches are not better than their Ice Cream Bars.
CM Punk Gave Away Ice Cream Bars As An Appreciation To His Fans
AEW fans were very excited that Punk announced he’d give away free ice cream bars to everyone in the arena. A lot of fans thought he wasn't serious until they received this freebie on their way out. Punk teamed up with Pretty Cool Ice Cream to make this happen. He wrote a check for everything out of his own pocket. This wasn’t just something Punk planned to do before the show. It was in the works for two years and Punk distributed these ice cream bars as a way to say thank you to his loyal fans who waited for him to return for years.
