This is partially my personal opinion, one that Ive held since Day One, since I view Punk as a guy who will stand by his convictions sometimes even to the point of spiting himself. He had also indicated that he didnt intend to wrestle into a ripe old age either. A series of events may have simply accelerated his decision. In addition to being my personal opinion, we have the cold hard fact that his contract expires in July: each day that ticks by means a decreased chance that he will return. No amount of our talking about it is going to bring him back. Theres nothing that can be said on our part to suddenly convince him to change his mind. If it hasnt happened yet, its not going to happen. It goes back to the boyfriend/girlfriend analogy: if they havent come back to you after 3 months of re-hashing your relationship, chances are they arent coming back at all. The next PPV, Payback, is being held in CM Punks hometown of Chicago. Cue rumours of Punks return, to be followed by a Punk-less PPV. I wont dispute that its fun to guess at surprise appearances its the best part of the Royal Rumble but Im feeling quite jaded about the Punk return. Maybe theyll never be able to hold an event in Chicago without fans wondering if Punk will make his comeback. And maybe John Cena will turn heel!