We’ve continued to gather more information on CM Punk’s return to WWE.
We're told that many WWE talent expect to speak with higher ups and gain some assurances about Punk and how he will be in the company moving forward.
As far as AEW, Tony Khan seemed more concerned Saturday night about losing Kastuyori Shibata than CM Punk heading to WWE. The majority of reactions we’ve gained within AEW is people asking about how the reaction within WWE has been. The answer to that is much more tepid than originally expected, just as was the case when Punk came back to AEW for Collision. In both WWE and AEW, there had been people that had said they didn’t want to work with him and would consider leaving, but we heard of no release requests from people in AEW and now WWE connected to it.
There were top WWE talent asking some in AEW if Punk was involved in the AEW devil storyline as recently as the last month or so. Punk was never discussed for that. While the Punk appearance was a closely kept secret in WWE, Punk had told or at least hinted to a couple of close friends that it was happening.
WWE ended up using renders from Punk’s last run in the company, and the same Titantron video from that era. We asked a source at Peacock about the playlist of Punk content that was added, and were told that takes relatively no time to put together. There were some guidelines given on how to address Punk chants for Smackdown and Survivor Series, which was to ignore them as best possible.
We can confirm that there was a real offer put together for CM Punk by IMPACT/TNA, as Ibou of WrestlePurists mentioned recently. Fightful spoke to several associated with the company this weekend that said he was well liked during his visits there, and we’re told the door remains open. There had been some friends of Punk’s that thought that was a real possibility before talks with Triple H started. Those close to him fully believed he would wrestle again, and when it looked like the door wasn’t open for a return, it seemed like an option if Punk wanted it.
And then there was Raw.
CM Punk is back in WWE, and cut his first promo in nearly ten years on WWE Raw.
While we weren’t able to get anyone to admit they kissed him on the mouth, we’re told that CM Punk was seemingly in good spirits, and seemed happy to be around. He spent much of the day getting photographed, both officially, and even with some other talent, and actually took some pictures with a few fans after the show backstage. Those that we heard from said he was on his best behavior as anticipated, and with good reason – some in WWE were told by higher ups that there is a behavior clause associated with his contract, which we’ve yet to confirm.
Speaking of, Haus of Wrestling reported this week that Punk was not “taking a victory lap” at the end of WWE Raw as a shot at the Young Bucks, as many suggested. We’re told that is accurate and at least according to WWE, he’s looking to move past the situation.
Internally, Punk is listed as a free agent as of now. There was no producer listed for his segment on WWE Raw, which had some time cut from it because of Randy Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio going long. One source backstage said that his reaction to that appeared to be fine. Another wouldn’t outright claim it was scripted, but knew the direction of the promo, and no shots at AEW were expected. There were several that went against the “everyone is happy I’m here,” line, which they said may have been tongue in cheek.
When he was in Gorilla position Saturday night before going out, he briefly joked with some people nearby before walking out.
Everything we’ve heard as of now is so far, so good for CM Punk in WWE.
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