8 Things We Learned From CM Punk On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show

You may have spotted some behind the scenes footage from CM Punk's memorable 2023 return at Survivor Series: WarGames on official WWE streams over the past 18 months or so. The live wire's comeback was kept under wraps well by the promotion, but clips did surface of Triple H welcoming his old nemesis back into the mix. This time, he did so as the outright boss.

Steph and Punk went in-depth on that experience and touched on his foray into MMA with UFC. He'd liken that to standing behind the curtain waiting to go out at the tail end of the WarGames PLE in 2023. Punk got hammered in his first UFC fight within just a few minutes, but he took something away from the experience; he doesn’t mind falling flat on his face repeatedly if he learns something from it. That's an interesting mindset, Nothing groundbreaking, but interesting nonetheless.

Now, Punk can draw parallels between entering the Octagon for the first time and returning to WWE. He had the same 'fight or flight' mentality as he readied himself to step out into the breach and find out what was going to happen next, and isn't afraid to concede that he was bloody "terrified". Footage of Hunter embracing Punk and saying complimentary things like: "We're lucky to have you here" or, "I appreciate you" is lovely to witness again though.

That put Punk's mind at rest a little after the show. Let's just assume he didn't have anybody waiting in the wings to say that after plucky journeyman fighter Mickey Gall humbled him at UFC 203 in September 2016.