As wild and impossible as it sounds, CM Punk is officially back in WWE. After leaving the company in 2014, Punk stayed away from the ring for seven years, only to make his long-awaited return with rival company AEW. Earlier this year, Punk was fired from AEW because of some behind-the-scenes altercations, leaving the door open for him to potentially return to the promotion that made him a household name. On Saturday night, at the end of WWE Survivor Series, Punk was greeted by the fans in his hometown of Chicago as the collective jaws of the WWE Universe dropped to the floor. The Best in the World is a member of the WWE roster once again.
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There had been rumors of a potential CM Punk return for weeks leading up to Survivor Series, but many were shot down by reporters and those within the company. In the press conference after the event, WWE head of creative Triple H (Paul Levesque) said that it all came together pretty quickly. The latest report from Fightful Select expands on that information, giving everyone a little more information about when the agreement between Punk and WWE was made.
According to Fightful Select, there wasn’t any guarantee that a deal would be done in time for Survivor Series, but that the two sides agreed to terms earlier in the day on Saturday. Things happened so fast that most people within WWE didn’t even know about Punk’s return, and most talent performing at Survivor Series were told before the night’s main event match.
The report also indicates that this signing wasn’t orchestrated by Vince McMahon, but that Triple H and Nick Khan were the ones that put it all together. Punk’s contract is reportedly a “multi-year” deal, though the exact length hasn’t yet been revealed.
Triple H on CM Punk’s WWE Return
Following the shocking end to Survivor Series, Triple H spoke to the media in a press conference and addressed the return of CM Punk to WWE.
“So this is um, one of those, sort of lighting in a bottle moments that came together really quickly, but we were extremely excited about it. It’s been a long time coming. You can say this about CM Punk, love him, hate him, positive or negative, whatever you want to say, people talk about him all the time,” Triple H said. “He’s a magnet for that, a conversation starter. It’s tough to look past that, and for me, if our fans want it, if the WWE universe is excited to have it, then let’s go, and we’ll figure out the rest of out from there.”
“This came tougher super quick, which I’m sure is why it stayed very tight. There was a lot of speculation at that point. It was nothing but speculation for most of the time there was speculation. It didn’t really start to come to fruition until everybody stopped thinking it was going to happen and all of a sudden, it was happening,” he added.
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