Hell sure froze over as CM Punk made his triumphant return to WWE at this year’s Survivor Series. The idea of him reemerging in the same company he walked out on nearly a decade ago seemed like a pipe dream to many of us but lo and behold, the “Best in the World” is finally back and he’s back home.
His shocking exit from AEW following the All In PPV in London last August sparked major speculation about his wrestling future and where he’s headed next. TNA? NJPW? Retirement? Nobody knew at the time.
Obviously, WWE was a no-brainer but the prospect, as exciting as it was, still didn’t cross my mind until they began dropping references almost on a weekly basis. They even played the entire thing up on social media ahead of Survivor Series, sending wrestling fans into a frenzy.
Punk’s entire run with AEW was a hit-and-miss and while his Rampage: The First Dance debut undoubtedly shook the business to its very core, it didn’t quite resonate with me and it’s something I totally expected.
You see, I always knew deep down where I wanted to see Punk should he decide to go back to wrestling and that’s WWE. Call me a tribalist or whatever, but him wrestling elsewhere just for the sake of returning to his roots won’t be enough to scratch my itch.
Now, I won’t be a hypocrite and say I wasn’t anticipating his AEW jump just like everyone else but after seeing it, it just didn’t click.
Sure, the matches and segments he had were all pretty solid but I still believe he did his best work in WWE, PG restrictions aside.
His promo on RAW may not have been everyone’s cup of tea but to me, it’s actually quite telling. This is the CM Punk we’re getting now and he’s determined to start with a clean slate.
I do have to say that the segment was way too short (apparently due to time constraints) but to Punk’s credit, he still made it work and the beauty of it is, it left us wanting more.
Of course, there’s still a bit of skepticism within the wrestling community on whether or not Punk will eventually return to his “old ways” but I’m holding out hope that what he said Monday night was actually true. Nevertheless, I believe we’re in for a generational run.
It’s clobberin’ time, baby!
Guy With Four Eyes 