CM Punk's return to wrestling was the "worst kept secret" as AEW booked the United Center in Chicago on short notice and strongly hinted that Punk would be there on August 20 at AEW Rampage.
Of course, no one knew until his music hit.
Some fans believed that it could have been a swerve and someone like MJF could have come out instead of Punk.
Speaking to Josh Martinez on Z100, Punk said that thought crossed his mind.
"Lowest hanging fruit in that aspect," Punk said when discussing the possibility of MJF or someone else coming out instead of him. "That, of course, did cross my mind. Once I realized that was the thought on everybody's mind, to me, it wasn't the right thing to do yet. Not yet."
Punk has been active in AEW since his return stepping in the ring with Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs, Daniel Garcia, and more.
While some fans have wondered why Punk hasn't been thrust into the title picture, Punk noted that he didn't want to be set to a formula.
"I'm telling a specific story here of coming back, restarting, rekindling my love of pro wrestling. I look at it like, if I went back to WWE, what would I do? I come back, I win the Royal Rumble...there's a track record and a formula for that they do. Batista comes back, he wins the Royal Rumble, he main events WrestleMania. Edge comes back, he's in the Royal Rumble, he goes on to main event WrestleMania. There's a formula. I was bored of that shit ten years ago so I'm bored of it now. To me, I understand people saying they don't like certain things, I get it. It's not for you. I'm there for the fans in the building. I'm telling the stories I want to tell and I'm having fun doing it. You'll know when it's not fun for me because I won't do it," he said.
Punk is scheduled to face Bobby Fish on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, marking his in-ring Dynamite debut.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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