CM Punk has returned to Madison Square Garden. The fan-favorite wrestled his first WWE match in nearly a decade on Tuesday, locking up with Dominik Mysterio in a victorious effort. The bout took place inside the world’s most historic arena, the same building that Punk won the WWE Championship at in November 2011, a win that kicked off his career-defining 434-day reign with the company’s top prize. Before his match with Dominik, Punk’s last contest inside MSG came in March 2012 when he tagged with Triple H and Randy Orton to defeat Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes.
Madison Square Garden, Chris Jericho Honor CM Punk
Madison Square Garden is happy to have CM Punk wrestling in the historic venue again.
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As shared by WWE’s Instagram, Punk was gifted with a plaque commemorating his return to MSG. The plaque notes that MSG hosted Punk’s first match in nearly a decade in front of a sold out crowd.
On another post highlighting Punk’s WWE in-ring return, AEW star and former WWE Champion Chris Jericho shared excitement, writing, “Congrats! 🔥🔥🔥” in the comments.
CM Punk and Chris Jericho’s History
Chris Jericho was one of CM Punk’s biggest tests on his aforementioned career-defining WWE Championship reign. Jericho set his sights on Punk’s title leading up to WWE WrestleMania 28, making their rivalry extremely personal in the process.
Y2J took shots at Punk’s family in an effort to get Punk to take a shot himself, as he was bent on making the straight edge superstar break his oath to not consume alcohol. Punk would defeat Jericho at WWE WrestleMania 28 and again the following month at WWE Extreme Rules.
Punk and Jericho resumed their rivalry the following year at WWE Payback. Punk disappeared from WWE TV after losing to The Undertaker at WWE WrestleMania 29, and Jericho made it his mission to get him to crawl back to competition. He would answer Jericho’s challenge at WWE Payback 2013, emerging victorious once again.
In an alternate timeline, fans would have seen Punk and Jericho run back their feud this year in AEW. Jericho reportedly made pitches to be Punk’s first feud back when he healed from his triceps injury, but those plans ultimately never came to fruition. Prior to those pitches, the two had some backstage issues, with Jericho taking exception to Punk’s role in the infamous AEW All Out press conference and subsequent locker room fight, reportedly calling him a “cancer” and a detriment to AEW. Punk referred to Jericho as a “liar and a stooge” on Instagram earlier this year.
