CM Punk was briefly backstage at the Allstate Arena on Monday afternoon ahead of this week’s Monday Night Raw. The former WWE Champion and current AEW star met with a number of wrestlers, including The Miz (the pair apparently patched things up after a contentious relationship for the past few years) and Paul “Triple H” Levesque before being asked to leave when Vince McMahon found out he was there. This immediately launched speculation among fans and wrestlers that Punk was there either as a publicity stunt to build hype for his AEW return or test the waters for a return to WWE.
Videos by ComicBook.com
However, according to a new report from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson (who broke the original story of Punk being there), the reason behind Punk’s appearance was a bit more mundane. Punk was in Florida over the weekend to do commentary for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and apparently wound up on the same flight as many WWE stars while going from Tampa to Chicago. He was able to enter the arena with other wrestlers and didn’t attempt to make his presence hidden. His conversation with Levesque was reportedly brief but did include Punk asking how Vince was doing.
Punk’s interactions with the other wrestlers were cordial and he was asked to leave by security after roughly 20 minutes. He said his goodbyes and left without any issue. Johnson then addressed the elephant in the room — “For those who have asked if this was Punk trying to gauge WWE interest, we are told no.He’s still under contract to AEW for what one person termed a ‘lengthy’ amount of time and couldn’t even negotiate with WWE at this point.” He also noted that this likely wasn’t a publicity stunt as there was no attempt to make his appearance go viral with any sort of video, photo or big moment.
As for Punk’s AEW run, it’s heavily rumored that he’s set for a return to TV this summer and will be the centerpiece of AEW’s new weekly Saturday show (reportedly called AEW Collision). Stay tuned for more updates!
WWE Backlash 2023 Card
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Zelina Vega
- United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed
- Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Matt Riddle vs. Solo Sikoa & The Usos
- Seth Rollins vs. Omos
- Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest (Street Fight)
