CM Punk made his long-awaited return to the WWE after a nine-year hiatus in his hometown of Chicago. … [+]
CM Punk is back in the WWE.
After a nine-year hiatus and a well-publicized exit from the company, Punk made a surprising return to the company in front of his hometown crowd of Chicago following the conclusion of the main event at Survivor Series on Saturday night.
Needless to say, Punk’s return had fans on social media in a frenzy after weeks of his rumored return finally became a reality.
According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, WWE staff and creative had no idea Punk was returning, reporting that Punk walked through the back just minutes before he appeared on screen at the end of Survivor Series.
“Here are the details we have as of now: CM Punk told at least one person close to him he had an hour long conversation with Triple H last week,” writes Ross Sapp. “WWE staff, reps, creative had no idea. He walked through the back in plain site minutes before he appeared. They had cleared an area out. Triple H took over calling the show in the last couple of minutes and called for the copyright logo. Even many in production didn’t know.”
The 45-year-old superstar’s return comes a month after a recent report back in October indicated that WWE had shut down Punk’s attempt to return to company following his exit from AEW in September.
Triple H — whom Punk had bad blood with during his initial WWE run — addressed Punk’s return during the Survivor Series 2023 post-show press conference.
“Everybody grows, everybody changes,” Triple H said regarding Punk’s return. “I’m a different person, he’s a different person. This is a different company. What’s next for CM Punk? That’ll be interesting, won’t it?”
As far as why the WWE is bringing back Punk, Triple H had a blunt answer for why the former World Champion is back after a nasty exit with the company nearly a decade prior.
“We are incredibly excited about it,” said Triple H on Punk’s return. “It’s been a long time in some ways. But a long time coming. You can say this about CM Punk, love him, hate him, positive or negative, whatever you want to say. People talk about him all the time. He is a magnet for that. He is a conversation starter. And it’s tough to look past that. And for me, if our fans want it, if the WWE universe is excited to have it, then let’s go.”
Triple H also addressed when the deal for Punk came together.
“This came together super quick,” said Triple H. “Which I’m sure is why it stayed very tight. There was a lot of speculation. At that point, it was nothing but speculation for most of the time it was speculation. It didn’t really start to come to fruition until everybody stopped thinking it was going to happen. And then all of a sudden, it was happening.”
When also factoring in Randy Orton’s own return after a 17-month hiatus, the WWE has two major players back in the fold. That opens up a number of possibilities relating to storylines and feuds as the WWE soon enters its most important stretch of the year at the beginning of 2024 with Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania XL on the horizon.
Perhaps most importantly, it’s a big message to WWE’s rival company, AEW, following their own surprising debut of longtime WWE superstar Adam Copeland at their October PPV, WrestleDream. International superstar Will Ospreay also recently debuted at last week’s AEW Full Gear PPV.
While it’s unclear what the company’s imminent plans are with Punk — Triple H didn’t have a definitive answer during the post-show press conference — it’s evident that his long-awaited return has WWE fans buzzing in a way they haven’t in a long time.