25 Most Iconic WWE Ring Entrances Ever

6. CM Punk (Survivor Series 2023)

Seth Rollins
WWE.com

The ifs and the buts and the maybes surrounding CM Punk's return to WWE at Survivor Series 2023 permitted plenty of discussion and speculation, but nobody - not even The Punker himself based on the footage of him signing the contract that afternoon - was willing to commit 100% to it happening until they saw it with their own eyes.

And by the sound of the reaction, they were scarcely able to believe it was happening even when it was. 

Punk taking his time only heightened the atmosphere, arriving as he did right as the show was about to go off the air with babyfaces celebrating in the ring. Staring down a fuming Seth Rollins and bewildered rest of the roster out there, his temporary embrace with elated Chicagoans was enough to break down his stoicism to a primal degree - 'The Punker' letting out an almighty scream at the magnitude of it all became the most-memed moment from a sequence of events that instantly became one of the most powerful in company history.

An all-time payoff and cliffhanger in one go, Monday Night Raw was suddenly to be the most in-demand wrestling television show in months, and nearly two years later there are storylines being build around the bridges that had previously been burned during his time away. It might not quite be on par with with his electrifying return to wrestling outright in 2021 for AEW, but it runs it impressively close. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett