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One Year On: Reliving the Hype Behind CM Punk’s WWE Return

One Year On: Reliving the Hype Behind CM Punk’s WWE Return

To many wrestling fans, myself included, November 25, 2023, is considered a holiday for one reason. On this day, hell froze over, and the saying “Never Say Never” could never be more accurate as CM Punk walked through gorilla position and stepped onto a WWE stage for the first time in almost 10 years. Let’s talk about the rollercoaster Punk and WWE took us on over three seemingly never-ending months.

Terminated With Cause: The Countdown Begins

CM Punk was terminated from his AEW contract on September 2, 2023, following a slew of backstage altercations and burned bridges with the AEW talent and Tony Khan himself. The latter of which was a physical fight with Jack Perry during AEW’s All In London event.

If you’re a Punk fan like myself, you may remember where you were during this. I was at Six Flags in line for the Goliath roller coaster when I got the news, and I spent the rest of the trip, including the coaster ride, focusing half of my mind on whether I would ever see CM Punk wrestle another match. At the time, things looked bleak on a potential Punk return to wrestling, as he may have burned every bridge possible and exhausted any option on his return.

That is until people turned their attention to WWE’s Survivor Series event in the Allstate Arena. Let the 84-day countdown begin.

CM Punk Subtle Shots

Around two weeks later, Punk dropped his first hint at a potential return to the ring during his appearance on CFFC commentary, stating that he had “nothing but time” on his hands for “the next two months.”

Certainly interesting but trolling fans with ballpark date estimates seems to be a theme in Punk’s personality, so there’s nothing to get up in arms about just yet. After all, there are still 71 days left.

Turning to WWE television did nothing but fuel these return rumors. Between slight remarks by Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins about the “best in the world,” – Punk’s self-proclaimed nickname, and a reference by Rollins about puppets, which could be a reference to one of Punk’s promos in Ring of Honor, the stacking up of events made it harder and harder for everything to seem like a coincidence.

Adding to the list of vague references was a line by Corey Graves at October 6’s Fastlane PLE. While promoting Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Heavyweight Championship, Graves said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled making the world forget that he existed,” which could be seen as a twist on a line from Punk’s promo after winning the Ring of Honor World Championship, where he said, “The greatest thing the Devil ever did was make you people believe he didn’t exist.”

Oh, what’s that, Corey? We should see “The Usual Suspects?”

Are you referring to the 1995 Bryan Singer film or the 2005 Full Impact Pro show with the same name that CM Punk just happened to be a part of? After all, Corey was a part of the Independent Wrestling scene at the same time, so you never know with him.

Perhaps a misquote, possibly a pointed reference. Either way, this could still be chalked as a coincidence. On goes the countdown with 50 days remaining.

It’s Getting Obvious

Well, if that didn’t get the ball rolling, how about Shinsuke Nakamura performing Punk’s signature Go 2 Sleep on Ricochet on the October 9 episode of Raw?

Sure, Nakamura used the move before but never on the main roster or in WWE, for that matter. At this point, it seemed obvious what WWE was trying to do.

Maybe it was really happening, and it was time to ring the alarm for another CM Punk return. Either way, we still have 47 days remaining, so there is nothing to get excited about just yet.

Oh, come on, now! At this point, they’re basically throwing it in your face! In case you don’t know, “Even on commentary, nobody can touch me” was a line uttered by Punk in his famous “Pipebomb” promo that I’m sure Grayson Waller just happened to use for no reason.

Additionally, I’m sure that Punk just happened to notice and reply with a blown kiss, similar to the one he gave Vince McMahon following his first WWE Title win at Money in the Bank 2011. This is ultimately what the Pipebomb promo ultimately led to.

You know what? Sure, let’s chalk this up as a coincidence as well. At this point, we’re in the home stretch to Survivor Series with 15 days remaining and the pressure is ramping up.

Oh, what’s that? WWE’s UK Store has started selling CM Punk items out of nowhere?

Man, these coincidences are really starting to ramp up. It’s almost like Punk and WWE were subtly dropping hints while they worked out the makings of a signed contract.

The pressure is on, and it’s up to Punk and WWE to deliver big-time come November 25. With eight days left, the clock is ticking towards Clobbering Time.

It’s Clobbering Time (Again)

In an interview with Ariel Helwani in April 2024, Punk confirmed that talks between himself and WWE started ramping up around Thanksgiving week and he signed the contract minutes before Living Color’s “Cult of Personality” blared through the speaker of the Allstate Arena. He then walked out on the stage to one of the loudest crowd reactions in WWE history.

Countdown over. It’s finally Clobbering Time again.

No matter your opinion of CM Punk, your eyes were most likely glued to your screen at that moment. Following the conclusion of the second annual Survivor Series War Games match and the WWE copyright logo showing up in the bottom right corner, the impossible happened, and CM Punk returned to WWE.

All of a sudden, everything felt right as a wrestling fan. All talks about termination with cause, backstage fights, and bans from TV shows were thrown out the window.

For a moment, everyone collectively lost their minds as the man who went out of his way to say he would never return to the company that fired him on his wedding day and caused him heaps of stress and almost his life due to a nasty staph infection returned to the stage in front of over 17,000 screaming hometown fans.

What’s Next for CM Punk?

Since returning to WWE, CM Punk has kept himself busy on and off screens. Immediately positioning himself in feuds against Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, Punk did not let a tricep tear during the 2024 Royal Rumble slow him down, as he stayed involved in feuds with Rollins and McIntyre until he was medically cleared to return to the ring.

Once cleared, Punk showed he did not lose a single step between the ropes as he put on three fantastic matches with McIntyre. Their final match, a Hell in a Cell contest at Bad Blood in October, fully lived up to the event’s name, as Punk and McIntyre redefined violence in the modern WWE landscape by bleeding buckets and delivering a match of the year contender.

Yes, you heard that right. 45-year-old “injury-prone” CM Punk delivered one of the year’s best matches and redefined violence in WWE in one night.

Following a hiatus from TV to rest and recover from this match, Punk is now back on WWE screens as the fifth man for Roman Reigns’ team in the third-annual War Games match at Survivor Series, the event he returned at last year. As fans, we are more than fortunate to have CM Punk back on our screens after so many years and still putting on classic matches whenever he gets the chance. When I saw the man return to wrestling over three years ago on the second episode of AEW Rampage, I never thought his return would yield this many excellent matches and moments.

From his return against Darby Allin to his classic matches with MJF to his unconventional farewell against Samoa Joe to the bloody masterpiece against Drew McIntyre, and now to a War Games match. It is a blessing to have CM Punk back in wrestling, and what a roller coaster it has been, hasn’t it?

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling

Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.

Mueez Azfar

Mueez Azfar

Mueez Azfar has been a fan of professional wrestling since 2015. He currently writes for Last Word On Sports and YardBarker and is currently pursuing his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism at Georgia State University.

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