10 Bold Predictions For Wrestling In 2023

3. The CM Punk Prophesy Shall Be Fulfilled

CM Punk AEW
AEW

Punk departed WWE for several reasons, the most significant of which should never go understated, even when considering wrestling's most enduring truism: "never say never".

His tenure with the company had a profoundly detrimental effect on his mental health. This wasn't just a dispute over money or his spot on the card: on a fundamental level, even all these years later, WWE broke him.

Several other factors hardly helped, not least of which the fact that, across 2013, when he somehow contrived to operate at his genius peak as a physical wreck, he was installed as the man the part-timers beat. He did jobs to the Rock, the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, and when he constantly asked why - since he was the guy going to work the next day - he was told that he was owed one. Well, Vince McMahon did him one better: Punk got two, by defeating Ryback and Paul Heyman at Hell In A Cell.

So what was he whinging about?

The narrative surrounding CM Punk now is that he's an inveterate hypocrite far more interested in making money than changing wrestling for the better and safeguarding its future.

If this holds true, it would be some ending to the story, were he to return to WWE as a part-timer - and work a programme with the man whose name he wore on a t-shirt when bemoaning their very existence.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!