Danhausen is calling out CM Punk over one very specific issue — taking back the GTS after returning to wrestling.
During an appearance on WWE Now’s Backlash recap show, Danhausen went into one of his trademark comedic stories involving Punk before suddenly turning the conversation toward the move both wrestlers have used over the years.
While joking about stealing CM Punk’s mail, Danhausen claimed Punk actually owes him something in return because he can no longer use the move himself in WWE: “He owes me, he stole my finishing move, I can’t do it here.”
Danhausen then explained that when Punk originally retired from wrestling, he believed the move had essentially been passed down to him. According to Danhausen, Punk even told him the move was his to use — until Punk suddenly returned to wrestling and reclaimed it.
“He was retired, and I said ‘Hey, I’ve been doing this.’ He says, ‘It’s yours.’ Then he came out of retirement like three months later and took it back.”
Before Punk returned to wrestling in AEW in August 2021, Danhausen had been using his own variation of the Go To Sleep called the “Very Nice, Very Kneevil.” The move became closely associated with Danhausen during his independent wrestling and ROH run. After Danhausen used the move during the ROH 19th Anniversary Show in March 2021, both CM Punk and KENTA publicly gave him their blessing to continue using it.
KENTA is widely credited as the wrestler who originally popularized the GTS in Japan long before Punk brought the move to mainstream WWE audiences, where it eventually became one of the company’s most recognizable finishers.
Danhausen even leaned into the joke after Punk joined AEW in 2021 by posting a comedy skit online showing Punk supposedly paying him royalties as the “inventor” of the move.
Of course, wrestling finishers don’t exactly come with legal ownership rights, and multiple wrestlers often use different variations of the same move over time. Still, Punk became the performer most WWE fans associate with the GTS during his rise to the top of the company.
As for Danhausen, he appears to have moved on to a different finishing move entirely. During WWE Backlash on May 9, Danhausen used a big boot to help secure the win for himself and Minihausen against The Miz and Kit Wilson. Even so, Danhausen clearly hasn’t forgotten about the GTS situation — and apparently neither has CM Punk.
Do you think CM Punk should’ve let Danhausen keep using the GTS, or is the move too closely tied to Punk’s WWE legacy now? Leave your thoughts and feedback below.
