Is WWE's CM Punk Cleared To Wrestle?

Following his Clash at the Castle appearance, is CM Punk cleared to return to the ring?

by Andrew Pollard
CM Punk
WWE

While he's clearly healthy enough to at least make a two-count, many fans are eager to learn whether CM Punk is now fully cleared to return to in-ring action. On that front, the Second City Saint isn't cleared just yet, but he may be in a matter of days.

Speaking during the post-Clash at the Castle press conference yesterday, Punk explained that he's been given permission to skip tomorrow's Raw so that he can go home to Chicago to speak with his doctor. As the Straight-Edge Superstar put it, he's hopeful of getting cleared by his doc and then turning up on SmackDown - which emanates from Chicago's Allstate Arena - to "let everybody know the good news".

CM Punk has been out of action since the Royal Rumble, where he suffered a tricep tear as he made it to the final two of the men's Rumble before losing out to Cody Rhodes. In the time since then, Punker has still been a semi-regular part of WWE programming, continuing to stir the pot in his rivalry with Drew McIntyre.

Advertisement

Not just did Punk play a role in McIntyre losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Damian Priest at WrestleMania XL, but the Voice of the Voiceless also popped up at yesterday's Clash at the Castle to similarly cost Drew. With the referee knocked out, and with McIntyre pinning Priest after nailing him with the Claymore Kick, another referee sprinted to the ring to count the pinfall... only for that ref to stop their count at two, as the camera panned round to reveal the official as CM Punk. Punk would then kick the Scottish Warrior in the balls, allowing for Damian Priest to hit a match-winning South of Heaven to retain his gold.

In this post: 
CM Punk
 
Posted On: 
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.