CM Punk's Incredible WWE Return: How It REALLY Happened
Backstage details on how CM Punk's WWE return unfolded over 10 days.
Unless you dwell on the Moon (if so, congratulations on securing internet access to read these sentences), you'll know by now that CM Punk mounted a sensational WWE return at Survivor Series 2023 this Saturday (25 November), doing so less than three months after being fired from AEW with cause.
Although WWE sources had denied talk of a Punk comeback in the lead-up to the event, Dave Meltzer reports on Wrestling Observer Radio that things changed about 10 days out from Survivor Series.
Punk and WWE made their deal around that time. Punk is understood to have signed a multi-year contract with the market-leading wrestling promotion, with his return "kept a secret from almost everyone." Meltzer states that even some TKO Group executives were kept in the dark. He is of the belief that some of them may have known, though it ultimately wasn't their business.
WWE President Nick Khan is understood to have made the call on Punk's comeback. Chief Content Officer and head of creative Paul 'Triple H' Levesque also played a role, while Executive Chairman Vince McMahon, decisively, did not.
Punk, whose previous WWE appearance was in 2014, is advertised for tonight's episode of Raw.