CM Punk has refrained from taking a harsh stance against former WWE president Vince McMahon in light of his stunning comeback to the organization.
Last year at Survivor Series, the contentious and outspoken celebrity made an incredible comeback to the organization, entering just as the program was about to end.
Punk made his WWE screen debut in the breathtaking moment, marking his first appearance since leaving the company in early 2014, when he had declared himself “sick, tired, and burnt out.”
Following, it seemed that he and the WWE would always be at odds. Punk frequently criticized them for using him and other celebrities in storylines and declared that he would “never” wrestle again.
On the day of the grappler’s wedding, WWE even gave him his termination papers—a move that McMahon subsequently described as an unfortunate “coincidence.”
After making a brief appearance in the UFC, Punk went on to wrestle again for Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling. However, controversy ensued there as well, and Punk’s stay was eventually cut short following an alleged altercation with a fellow wrestler backstage at London’s Wembley Stadium, which Khan claimed put “my life in danger.”
Despite being a free agent at the time, rumors of a WWE comeback among supporters appeared improbable at most, considering their tense past, which makes his return all the more astonishing.
Certainly, the progress of the talks would have been aided by McMahon’s departure. After a precipitous decline from grace, he essentially no longer has any physical connections to the day-to-day operations of WWE.
He resigned from TKO, which is essentially WWE’s parent company, in response to serious charges of sexual assault and human trafficking from his time in prison. Other than denials from his legal team, he has remained mostly silent since.
Punk acknowledged that the promoter’s abrupt exit “lit the way” for the events that transpired, but the Chicago native wouldn’t accept full responsibility for the prior animosity between them.
He admitted to Denise Salcedo that he and McMahon had a part in their “history” and that “Vince being out of the picture probably illuminated the way.”
That was probably one of the major things, in my opinion, and it applies to everyone who will sensationalize a headline.
“I think a lot of things changed when one of us was suddenly removed from the equation; it wasn’t him or me; it was just, there’s a lot of history there.”
Punk’s incredible WWE comeback was a difficult process in many ways. For the trial to become somewhat apparent, he continued, “Several things had to occur. The stars needed to align, the moon needed to be full, and many dominoes needed to fall for us to be here.
“It was never like, ‘Man, I wish I could go back.'”
At this weekend’s SummerSlam, Punk will compete in what will be his first WWE broadcast angles match in more than ten years.
In Cleveland, Ohio, he squares off against his bitter adversary Drew McIntyre, with Seth Rollins serving as the special guest referee.
Except for his January Royal Rumble match, where he suffered a severe quadriceps injury that forced him to miss over seven months of action, Punk’s matches since making his WWE comeback have not been broadcast on television.
In two house show matches over the Christmas season of 2023, he defeated Dominik Mysterio, and a few weeks later, he won the Rumble match.
He has been a constant pain in McIntyre’s side during his recuperation, and earlier this month, in advance of their SummerSlam match, he received medical clearance to compete.