Ranking All 24 WWE Debuts & Returns In 2023

1. CM Punk

CM Punk Trish Stratus
WWE.com

Realistically, the moment “Cult of Personality” rang out at the end of Survivor Series, the top spot on this list was locked up.

For better or worse, CM Punk is a game-changer, a needle-mover, the conversation piece in professional wrestling. His return to WWE nearly 10 years after walking out on the company is nothing short of miraculous.

Of course, things could go south in record time – look no further than Punk’s AEW run and his comments about WWE as recently as two years ago – but up until that possible point, the Second City Saint will be a major player in the company and a focal point, both for storylines and for fans.

His return set the wrestling world on fire, so that alone merits top placement on this list… until the wheels fall off.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.