After nearly a decade away from wrestling CM Punk made his return in August 2021, signing with All Elite Wrestling. Punk had left WWE in January 2014 and publicly criticized the company throughout his time away from the ring.
Punk's run in AEW lasted just over two years and ended after he got into a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW All In 2023. It was Punk's second backstage altercation in less than a year following an incident at AEW All Out 2022.
Punk would return to WWE at WWE Survivor Series 2023.
Speaking on the Masked Man Show with David Shoemaker and Kazeem Famuyide, Punk was asked what gave him the confidence to return to WWE and if it would be different than when he left.
"I had a conversation with Triple H on Thanksgiving. Immediately, I was like, 'This dude is taking time away from his daughters and wife and turkey to talk to me.' It's not a thing where they need this big superstar. They didn't need to sign me. They were doing fine. I just think he, in a way, recognized that this is the right thing to do. Where prior administration would look at stuff and go, 'Nope, this is the way we're doing it because I said so.' Yeah, but if you did it this way, it's going to benefit this many more people and create...my big thing about part-timers back in the day was, they can come back and main event, I understand The Rock is box office compared to CM Punk in 2013. I understand that, but at some point, if you don't hand the baton to somebody else, Rock is not going to come back, and now there is nobody at that level. That's kind of how I always viewed the business and I think me and Triple H always butt heads because we were too similar back then. We've grown and now I love working with the guy, it's great. I don't say for him, either, because I don't feel like I work for this guy. I feel like I come to work and it's more collaborative than anything it's ever been and I couldn't have seen that until I was actually in. I kind of took a gamble, whereas in 2021, when I came back, I went with the devil I didn't know instead of the devil I knew," said Punk.
Punk is set to headline WWE WrestleMania 41 Saturday in a triple threat match against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
Elsewhere during the interview, Punk revealed that WWE is trying to get him to sign a five-year deal. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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