Well, it’s official: CM Punk is once again a WWE Superstar, and this is a sentence we never thought we would read.
It has been almost a decade since we last saw Phil “CM Punk” Brooks on a WWE pay-per-view or show. He left on really bad terms in 2014, bad to the point where his fan base believed that WWE began erasing his history.
Since then, he faced several legal battles and a failed MMA career. He teased fans with fake returns by showing an Easter egg on his Instagram story, and then he returned to wrestling with a different company, AEW, in 2021. He was fired in 2023 for behavioral and backstage issues, though not all of it was his fault.
He’s now back home. The question is: Will his return to WWE be a successful final run or will he mess it up like last time?
Some people say you’re the same person as the environment you’re in. If true, this is a good sign that Punk’s final run will go well. WWE is much more professional than AEW and immediately solves some of Punk’s problems. And WWE still has the goal of making money. I’m sure Punk and other wrestlers do not want to “fumble the bag.”
On Nov. 25 Punk made his return to a roaring crowd in his hometown of Chicago at the end of the WWE Survivor Series. Despite cheering fans and wrestlers watching in awe, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins wasn’t too happy to see Punk due to their prior disagreements, and gave him the bird, shouting, “F**k you, Phil!”
Two days later Punk returned to Monday Night RAW to a roaring Nashville audience and made a promo where he said, “Once upon a time, an ‘American Dream’ taught me that if you speak from the heart, you cannot go wrong because it is the truth, and this is the truth: I’m home.” He added, “A wise man told me that for me to get everything I need out of this place, I’d have to leave and come back.”
This could be the biggest comeback in wrestling history, but, so far, it is a waiting game.
CM Punk may have problems with some people in the locker room, but most of those wrestlers were with him in the beginning, too. PWTorch reported that some people backstage in RAW said Punk, according to multiple accounts, tried to approach everybody and was “very nice,” “humble” and “in a good mood.” One wrestler added, “But he knew he kinda had to be.”
But even if CM Punk has some problems, WWE knows it can’t “fumble the bag” when it comes to booking him. This is the company’s second chance with Punk, and they need to take care of him when it comes to creativity and booking because he is a money-making machine. Fans hope the WWE will book Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in Wrestlemania 40. It would be the G.O.A.T of the modern era vs. the G.O.A.T of the attitude era, and perhaps all-time.
There are a lot of opportunities to book a memorable and successful final run for CM Punk, matches against AJ Styles, LA Knight, Cody Rhodes, a rematch with Brock Lesnar and the guy with whom he has real-life beef, Seth Rollins. While we worry about Punk’s behavior, many legends and former TV wrestling personalities have expressed that if Punk can behave and is motivated, this final run will be a success.
But only time will tell.