CM Punk made his shocking return to WWE at WWE Survivor Series 2023 in his hometown of Chicago. Punk infamously walked out of WWE after WWE Royal Rumble 2014 and publicly disparaged the company on podcasts and interviews in the decade that followed.
He even went to court against WWE doctor Christopher Amann, who filed a defamation lawsuit against Punk and Colt Cabana for comments made on a podcast in 2014.
Speaking to Stephanie McMahon on Stephanie's Places, Triple H and Punk recalled their conversation that led to his return.
"If there was ever a guy you said will never return here, it would be CM Punk. If you look at the history and everything that had gone down; his side, company side. I think he would have said it a couple of years ago, 'Never happening,' but things change. When I spoke to him on the phone I said, 'Phil, if you're the same person now that you were ten years ago, you wasted ten years of your life. If I'm that same person, I wasted ten years of my life. Let's put all that stuff beside us and talk about what are the possibilities?' We snuck him into that building. The contract wasn't done yet. All that stuff was happening in real time. Gaurantee, CM Punk, as we say often, you couldn't drive a ten penny nail up his ass with a sledgehammer. I guarantee you he was beside himself with doubt," said Triple H.
During their time as on-screen performers, Triple H and Punk battled on the microphone and in the ring, taking personal shots in promos.
Punk said about his return, "Thanksgiving, on a Zoom with your husband, probably having a conversation we should have had ten years ago. I'm telling him, 'Hey, don't worry about it. Go cut the turkey. Go spend time with your family.' He's like, 'No, we gotta do this.' Everything came together so fast. I was still unsure of a lot of stuff. There is definitely that part of a performer's brain, 'Are they going to remember me? Are they going to care?' I think me and your husband are way more similar than maybe even today we want to admit. I felt it was going to be a big deal, and then that washed over me, 'Oh, this is way bigger of a deal than I thought it was going to be. Okay, we got something here.'"
Punk had been fired from AEW two months prior following another backstage incident at AEW All In 2023, paving the way for his WWE return.
Punk is set to face Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match at WWE WrestleMania 41.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit and link to the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
