Ranking Reddit's 10 Most INSANE Wrestling Conspiracy Theories

5. CM Punk Used AEW To Get Back To WWE

Truth be told, around 35% of Reddit's conspiracy theories are centered around CM Punk. He is the internet's most talked-about wrestler by several hundred miles. If you were to believe the average Reddit user, Punk is either a megalomaniacal mastermind who knows how to manipulate the system to bend to his will, or a sociopathic dummy who has car-crashed his way around the business and is always a ticking time bomb, ready to blow up his career at a moment's notice.

There really is no middle ground when it comes to the internet's view of Punk, but the biggest conspiracy theory around him is that his plan was always to go back to WWE. 

Let's examine the evidence. Triple H has confirmed that he and Vince met with Punk before his big AEW return, with Levesque's assessment being that Punk was still "the same guy" that left. There are further theories that Punk took his analyst role on Fox's WWE Backstage show back in 2019 as a way to get himself back into a WWE ring.

The Reddit theory suggests Punk going to AEW would show WWE how valuable his stock was, forcing their hand to consider him to be the star he has always believed he was. His YouTube numbers in AEW were sky-high, he drew record numbers at PPV and in ticket sales, and AEW was considered a long-term threat to WWE. This might sound speculative in 2026, but NXT's biggest star, Adam Cole, and WrestleMania main eventer, Bryan Danielson, joined CM Punk on Tony Khan's roster. This would be like Oba Femi and Seth Rollins joining AEW in 2025/26.

It's hard to believe that Punk wasn't having fun in AEW until everything blew up inside his feud with 'Hangman' Adam Page, but was his time in the company always done with one eye on going back to WWE? Reddit certainly believes this theory above all others in this list.

Believability Rating: 7/10