On November 25th, CM Punk returned to the WWE at Survivor Series after leaving the company 9 years ago. The Allstate Arena in Chicago became unglued as CM Punk’s music hit following the main event WarGames match. It is believed CM Punk received the one of the loudest pops of all time by a WWE crowd.
During the WWE Survivor Series Post-Show Press Conference, Triple H explained how the deal the CM Punk came together:
This is one of those lighting-in-a-bottle moments that came together very quickly. We are incredibly excited about it. It’s been a long time, and in some ways been a long time coming. You can say this about CM Punk; love him, hate him, positive, negative, whatever you want to say, people talk about him all the time. He’s a magnet for that, he’s a conversation starter, and it’s tough to look past that. For me, if our fans want it, if the WWE Universe is excited to have it, then, let’s go, and we’ll figure out the rest of it from there. This came together super quick, which I’m sure is why it stayed very tight. There was a lot of speculation, and at that point, it was nothing but speculation. For most of the time it was speculation, it didn’t really come to fruition until everybody stopped thinking it was going to happen, and then all of sudden, it was happening. Extremely excited. A lot of time has gone by, almost ten years. If you are the same person you were ten years ago, ten years later, you messed up. Everybody grows, everybody changes. I’m a different person, he’s a different person. This is a different company. We’re all on the same even starting ground. What’s next for CM Punk? That will be interesting, won’t it? I’m interested in seeing that myself. I know whatever it is, it will be talked about, it’ll be exciting, and it will be a thrill ride for the WWE Universe, no matter what it is. I’m thrilled, we’re all thrilled, to have him back here and have him back, cliched to say, have him back home in WWE. It’s where he belongs.
Triple H
During the press conference, Triple H was asked if TKO was pushing for the return of CM Punk and made it clear that TKO was not pushing for it at all. Triple H stated that there was no push at all from outside the WWE to get a deal done with Punk.
There has been zero push from anybody past WWE. It’s myself, Nick Khan. To be honest, very few people knew about it past that. It’s a funny thing, all of a sudden there is a mystery entity behind WWE. We’re doing our thing and we’re trusted to our thing and trusted to do what we feel is right for business. To be honest, probably the top people at TKO were going ‘Holy Shit.’ It’s a good thing. It’s a crazy, cool time right now at WWE. I think fans can feel that. A lot of energy, a lot of excitement, and I’m ready. Let’s run through a wall. Let’s do this and do it the biggest way possible, and keep building on what Vince McMahon made into a global juggernaut for 50 years. If I have anything to do with it and have any say in it, we’re going to make it bigger than it’s ever been before.
Triple H
CM Punk’s last appearance for the WWE prior to his return at Survivor Series was on January 26, 2014 in a Royal Rumble match. He walked out on the WWE following that match and began openly criticizing the company.
CM Punk signed with AEW in 2021 but had his contract terminated in August 2023 following a number of high profile backstage incidents.
(H/T goes to Fightful for transcribed quotes)
You can follow Lewis Carlan on Twitter @ShootingUpNorth
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