Before pro wrestling superstar CM Punk walked out to the ring in front of a sold out crowd at Chicago's United Center on Friday, Aug. 20, fans were already chanting his name.
"CM PUNK! CM PUNK!"
These chants are not unheard of at pro wrestling events. Punk is a fan favorite among the hardcore wrestling faithful. However, for the past seven years, those chants would go unheeded.
Fans would clamor for CM Punk, but he would not appear.
Punk seemingly, and abruptly, retired from pro wrestling in 2014 after a very public falling out with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). As the years went by, he insisted and further cemented in interviews that he's not looking to return. Fans had to contend with the fact that maybe Punk was really done wrestling.
Yet, they knew he was going to walk out at All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) televised Rampage show that Friday night, more than seven years after he walked away from the business.
How?
Because the news of Punk's return was spoiled on the internet, leaking all across social media nearly a full month earlier.
Social media leaks, TV rating success
In a previous era, a leak like this in the wrestling industry could've changed a company's plans. AEW instead embraced the idea that everyone knew Punk signed with them instead of his old WWE stomping ground and was returning to TV in his hometown of Chicago.
"The news exploded online and it was impossible to ignore," said Sean Ross Sapp, managing editor of pro wrestling news site, Fightful, who...
Read Full Story: https://mashable.com/article/pro-wrestling-leaks-social-media
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