Now We Know: CM Punk Can Talk About Anything He Wants On WWE Backstage ... Except Saudi Arabia

WWE returns to the Kingdom in February, with another as-of-yet unnamed, star-studded pay-per-view. Given his part-time status on the show, it would be easy for CM Punk to avoid appearing on Backstage entirely during the coverage. In another world, it would have been fascinating to watch his analysis of the product ahead of Saudi Arabia, especially to see if his reluctance to talk about Sami Zayn would extend to Black, Kevin Owens, John Cena and Daniel Bryan. Do we expect to see an even greater number of superstars avoid Saudi Arabia this time around?

The voiceless are plentiful, even purely within the kayfabe world: beyond a Sami Zayn plug on Backstage, what of the female superstars who find themselves stuck in meaningless, directionless programmes twice a year? Or the male superstars who find themselves unable to maintain a run at the top because they take issue with the morality of pushing the GSA’s propaganda? Even ignoring ‘real-life’ issues, like early wrestler deaths, these are the voiceless that need CM Punk to stand up for them – and sadly, after last week’s Backstage, now we know that that won’t happen anytime soon.