Almost ten years after his ugly departure from WWE, the AEW-fired CM Punk is back in WWE after all. The home crowd in Chicago escalates. Triple H reveals exciting things afterwards
It was one of those moments for which the English language has come up with the expression “Hell freezes over”. Although: a frozen hell can’t be that loud!
At the big event Survivor Series 2023, WWE sent its fans into a frenzy with the biggest sensational comeback in a long time: CM Punk is back – almost ten years after his ugly departure and career end, three months after his ring return at AEW had also ended in disaster.
In his hometown of Chicago – where Punk enjoys folk hero status – the main event of the show, which had also featured the returning Randy Orton, came as a surprise: the previously long-term injured veteran led the team of Cody Rhodes, World Champion Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn and Jey Uso to victory over Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre in the “War Games” cage match.
Afterwards, the well-known song “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour suddenly played, Punk appeared in the entrance area in a white shirt and was celebrated by the crowd, which exploded in ecstasy. Punk then sat down on the entrance ramp – as he once did for his legendary “Pipe Bomb” – and performed his famous “clobbering time” gesture in the direction of the stars in the ring.
Immediately afterward, “Triple H” Paul Levesque – the strong man behind the WWE scenes – revealed exciting details about Punk’s return.
NEVER. SAY. NEVER.@CMPunk has just returned to WWE at SurvivorSeries!!! pic.twitter.com/0dpG6vyT5r
– WWE (@WWE) November 26, 2023
Triple H speaks of night-and-fog action
The fact that Punk would end up back in WWE despite the backstory doesn’t come as a surprise in principle: Punk had been sending WWE positive signals for a while – and the video’s exploding social media numbers already hint at what a big deal the comeback will be
However, several insider portals reported in October that WWE had decided against Punk’s comeback “for now” because there were too many concerns that Punk would cause trouble internally similar to AEW. In previous years, WWE had also repeatedly decided against Punk’s return.
Was this a deceptive maneuver, as is not uncommon in the industry? Or was there a change of opinion because the fan calls for Punk had become louder since then?possibly also in the course of the changed balance of power, to the disadvantage of the no longer all-powerful league founder Vince McMahon and in favor of son-in-law and creative director “Triple H” Paul Levesque?
Mighty cold day in hell. SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/1Z0KZ2LwCb
– Triple H (@TripleH) November 26, 2023
Levesque himself portrayed the “earth-shattering return” (original quote from the WWE homepage) at the press conference after the show as a night-and-fog operation that had come about “super quickly”. According to Levesque, only two people at WWE were in the picture beforehand – he and league president Nick Khan. So Vince McMahon, whose power was recently curtailed by parent company CEO Ari Emanuel, was not involved – the circumstances of Punk’s comeback now underscore the new realities that were unthinkable for many decades.
“Love him, hate him, positive, negative: people talk about him all the time,” said Punk’s former in-ring rival Levesque, explaining the return: “He’s a magnet, he’s someone who’s a talking point and it’s hard to neglect that. If that’s what our fans want, if that’s what the WWE Universe wants, here we go.”
Levesque also put into perspective the oft-circulated assessment that he and Punk wouldn’t get along: “I’m a different person. He’s a different person. We’re a different company, we all have the same starting conditions now. “
CM Punk: Back with WWE after release from AEW
Former WWE Champion and top star Punk had left WWE in a dispute in early 2014: A lengthy estrangement had culminated in Punk accusing former WWE doc Chris Amann of putting his life in danger by improperly treating an infection.
The now 45-year-old Punk declared his wrestling career over at the time and instead tried his hand as a real fighter in the UFC – where he was quickly out of the picture after two crushing defeats.
Two years ago, the initially fairytale ring comeback at AEW followed: Punk proved there that he had lost none of his charisma and commercial appeal, causing TV ratings and especially pay-per-view and merchandise sales to skyrocket.
Behind the scenes, however, there were several major upheavals: Last year, a conflict with AEW co-founders Nick and Matt Jackson (The Young Bucks) escalated into an angry Punk PK and a nasty backstage brawl – the bone of contention was the accusation leveled against Punk that he had called for the firing of his former best friend Colt Cabana at AEW.
That summer, AEW fired Punk following further unrest, culminating in another scandal at the All In mega-show at London’s Wembley Stadium: Punk got into another fight with young star Jack Perry, and there were also allegedly clashes between Punk and boss Tony Khan. Khan indicated that he was “scared for my life”
Punk’s return now reshuffles the cards in WWE: He is likely to play a major role on the “Road to WrestleMania”: At the annual highlight WrestleMania 40, a battle between Punk’s former AEW colleague Rhodes and the Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who has reigned for over 3 years, was looming until now.
WWE now has a new trump card for the time before or after
