CM Punk had his first televised match back in WWE at the Royal Rumble this past weekend. Punk entered at No. 27, the same as the 2014 Royal Rumble, his last match in WWE. As the match winded down the final four men were Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Gunther and Punk. Rhodes eliminated Gunther in a callback to last year’s match while Punk threw McIntyre over the ropes after McIntyre screamed in his face that he’s not the same person he was ten years ago. Punk was later eliminated by Rhodes who won his second consecutive Rumble, the first in 26 years.ย
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Coming out of the match, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Punk suffered a torn tricep at some point during the match. According to Bryan Alvarez, the rumor is that Punk tore it “off the bone.”ย PWInsider quickly confirmed the report that Punk sustained the injury with the belief that he is scheduled for surgery. Fightful Selectย noted Punk is scheduled for an appearance on WWE Raw tonight where he is likely to address the injury. The injury appears to have happened after Punk took a DDT from McIntyre. Punk clutches his arm immediately after, crawling to the corner to talk to officials.
Punk previously tore his tricep at AEW All Out 2022 after recovering from a foot injury from his title match with Hangman Adam Page he sustained at Double or Nothing a few months prior. Since his firing from AEW ahead of the All Out pay-per-view last September to his WWE return at Survivor Series in November, Punk has only wrestled twice — two non-televised matches against the Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio. The recovery period for a torn tricep is between four and six months after surgery which would put Punk out until May at the earliest and July at the latest.
It appeared that Seth Rollins and Punk would meet at WrestleManiaย 40 in Philadelphia after their collision on WWE Raw. Punk insinuated that if he won the Rumble he’d come for his title. Rollins, the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, recently tore his MCL in his title defense against Jinder Mahal. On the Raw following Rollins was optimistic he’d be back in time for WrestleMania. He was confronted by Gunther who revealed that when he wins the Rumble, he might just become a double champion.
We at Comicbook.com wish Punk well in his recovery.
