AEW wrestler and executive vice president Cody Rhodes showered CM Punk with praise Wednesday prior to the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Rhodes noted that Punk has helped break multiple AEW records in terms of viewership and merchandise sales since joining the company in August (beginning at 1:50 mark):

"From a data standpoint, every record we have, he instantly broke," Rhodes said. "I think we added 12 new servers to our ShopAEW.com site in terms of the merchandise he was able to put out there. Ratings, you know, they come down to the No. 1 on cable series and it averages a little over 1 million, but if you look at his segments specifically, they're nearing 2 million in terms of overall views. He really was a flashpoint in wrestling. Every wrestler should know the prominence he brings."

To Rhodes' point, Pro Wrestling Tees announced that Punk's AEW debut shirt broke the record for most shirt sales in 24 hours on the site, and it also became the best-selling shirt of all time for PWT in less than 72 hours.

Also, Punk's AEW debut on the Aug. 20 Rampage drew 1.129 million viewers, which was nearly 400,000 more viewers than the next-best-rated Rampage thus far.

Punk's AEW in-ring debut against Darby Allin at AEW All Out near his hometown of Chicago helped contribute to a sold-out show and reportedly over 200,000 pay-per-view buys as well.

It had been over seven years since Punk last stepped inside a pro wrestling ring before his AEW debut, and every measure suggests fans have been starving to see him back in the fold.

Punk will compete in his second AEW match Friday night on Rampage when he takes on Powerhouse Hobbs at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).