Triple H addresses CM Punk's return to WWE.
At WWE Survivor Series 2023 on November 25, CM Punk made his return to WWE for the first time since 2014. He appeared after the conclusion of the main event, where Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton beat The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh) and Drew McIntyre in the Men's WarGames Match.
At the WWE Survivor Series Post-Show Press Conference, Triple H was asked to describe how Punk's return came together.
"This is one of those lighting-in-a-bottle moments that came together very quickly. We are incredibly excited about it. It’s been a long time, and in some ways been a long time coming. You can say this about CM Punk; love him, hate him, positive, negative, whatever you want to say, people talk about him all the time. He’s a magnet for that, he’s a conversation starter, and it’s tough to look past that. For me, if our fans want it, if the WWE Universe is excited to have it, then, let’s go, and we’ll figure out the rest of it from there. This came together super quick, which I’m sure is why it stayed very tight. There was a lot of speculation, and at that point, it was nothing but speculation. For most of the time it was speculation, it didn’t really come to fruition until everybody stopped thinking it was going to happen, and then all of sudden, it was happening. Extremely excited. A lot of time has gone by, almost ten years. If you are the same person you were ten years ago, ten years later, you messed up. Everybody grows, everybody changes. I’m a different person, he’s a different person. This is a different company. We’re all on the same even starting ground. What’s next for CM Punk? That will be interesting, won’t it? I’m interested in seeing that myself. I know whatever it is, it will be talked about, it’ll be exciting, and it will be a thrill ride for the WWE Universe, no matter what it is. I’m thrilled, we’re all thrilled, to have him back here and have him back, cliched to say, have him back home in WWE. It’s where he belongs," Triple H said.
Triple H was then asked how much TKO was pushing for Punk to return. He made it clear that there was zero push outside of WWE. Triple H stated that few people knew about Punk's return, aside from him and Nick Khan.
"There has been zero push from anybody past WWE. It’s myself, Nick Khan. To be honest, very few people knew about it past that. It’s a funny thing, all of a sudden there is a mystery entity behind WWE. We’re doing our thing and we’re trusted to our thing and trusted to do what we feel is right for business. To be honest, probably the top people at TKO were going ‘Holy Shit.’ It’s a good thing. It’s a crazy, cool time right now at WWE. I think fans can feel that. A lot of energy, a lot of excitement, and I’m ready. Let’s run through a wall. Let’s do this and do it the biggest way possible, and keep building on what Vince McMahon made into a global juggernaut for 50 years. If I have anything to do with it and have any say in it, we’re going to make it bigger than it’s ever been before," Triple H said.
Punk previously walked out on WWE in January 2014 and publicly criticized the company on the Art of Wrestling podcast. He joined WWE Backstage as a special contributor in 2019. Punk then signed with AEW in 2021 and debuted at AEW Rampage: The First Dance. He was featured in AEW, where he won the AEW World Championship.
At AEW All Out 2022, Punk was involved in a backstage incident with Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson. He was sidelined for several months until he returned in June 2023. AEW terminated Punk's contract after he was involved in a backstage incident with Jack Perry at AEW All In on August 27.
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