WWE Won't Make "Reactionary" Move To CM Punk's AEW Debut

WWE SummerSlam looks set to be eclipsed by the impending AEW arrival of the Second City Saint.

by Andrew Pollard
CM Punk entrance
WWE

With it widely expected that CM Punk will make his long-awaited return to wrestling on this Friday's AEW Rampage, many are wondering if WWE will make any moves to counter this monumental moment.

If and when Punk does show up in AEW, it will be one of the hottest wrestling stories of the past several years. And if that return does indeed happen on Friday, that means that the wrestling world will be abuzz with talk of the Second City Saint's return as WWE prepares to put on their annual SummerSlam PPV this Saturday.

As per the ever-reliable @WrestleVotes, WWE currently has no plans to make a "reactionary" move to Punk's impending AEW bow.

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It was previously reported how WWE was going all out to make this year's SummerSlam feel even bigger than a WrestleMania event. As such, rumours suggested that Vince McMahon's company would be looking to have John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, Becky Lynch and Bray Wyatt all possibly featured at SummerSlam.

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Right now, Cena has indeed returned, Brock is nowhere to be seen, Bryan is another supposedly AEW-bound, Lynch's return is reportedly not happening until later in the year, and Wyatt was released at the end of last month. But hey, Bill Goldberg is back...

Should CM Punk rock up in Chicago's United Center on Friday, there's a very real likelihood that SummerSlam will be completely eclipsed by this week's AEW Rampage.

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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 dayjob, 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.