CM Punk's New Home WWE Brand Is...
CM Punk plants WWE flag after tour of Raw, NXT, and SmackDown.
After a brief tour encompassing all three of WWE's major television brands, CM Punk has declared Raw his new home in the promotion.
Punk's decision was amongst the main hooks of last night's show. Since returning at Survivor Series 2023, he had teased signing with either Raw, SmackDown, or NXT, appearing on all three shows - including an NXT: Deadline/SmackDown two-nighter last week.
Despite this, the result always looked like Raw. Monday's episode saw Punk pledge his future to Adam Pearce's brand, who made the best offer in kayfabe, teeing him up for a rivalry with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins - before Punk declared himself for the 2024 men's Royal Rumble.
Punk's promo was typical of his comeback so far, adopting a familiar "happy to be here" theme as he recalled coming back "home" after "walking out" on the market-leading promotion in 2014. Famously, WWE fired the 45-year-old on his wedding day.
Things became more confrontational when Rollins hit the ring after Punk had signed the contract. Seth's verbiage focused on Punk's perceived abandonment of WWE almost a decade ago, with the World Heavyweight Champion seemingly insulted that Punk possessed the gall to call WWE his "home." Rollins, who claimed to "hate" Punk, said he knew the returnee was on his last chance in wrestling, threatening to expose him as a fraud.