CM Punk’s WWE Return Plans Reportedly Revealed

CM Punk is reportedly set to join the SmackDown brand upon his impending WWE return.

CM Punk’s WWE Return Plans Reportedly Revealed

CM Punk [via- Cageside Seats]

There has been a ton of CM Punk noise of late. A rumor claiming that he was upset at WWE for something related to his wife AJ Lee to a point where he wanted out of his contract was recently debunked by Fightful. The outlet later reported via WrestleVotes Radio that Punk was believed to be back on WWE television by the July 6 episode of Raw in Chicago.

Moreover, the report added that new merchandise was being produced for the Best in the World’s upcoming WWE dates in the summer. A latest account of the story from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is claiming that CM Punk is planned to be moved to SmackDown upon his return in a balancing act.

With Raw having its roster bolstered with the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Usos, Jacob Fatu, Bron Breakker, and Oba Femi, it would be sensible to send Punk over to the Friday nights. It’d result in the topmost echelon of stars of the blue brand comprising Cody Rhodes, Gunther, and Rhea Ripley, with Punk after he joins them, and Randy Orton & Drew McIntyre due to be back in time for SummerSlam.

It was also noted how WWE explicitly teased Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk on Raw after WrestleMania 42. Considering that Punk is on his way to SmackDown, he will inevitably cross paths with ‘The American Nightmare’. While WWE has yet to announce Punk’s return to television, he’s been added to the July 19 lineup of the WWE stars at the NYC Fanatics Fest.

There’s still no update on the creative plans for the ‘Second City Saint’ at this year’s SummerSlam. It would be interesting to see who he ends up facing in his third consecutive SummerSlam appearance since returning to WWE in 2023.

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Does AEW still hope that CM Punk will make peace with them?

The ugly fallout that CM Punk had with AEW was the genesis of his WWE return. Punk had a physical confrontation with Jack Perry backstage just before walking out to defend the AEW world title against Samoa Joe at All In: London in 2023. It came to be Punk’s last match in the company, as he was fired days later.

CM Punk in the ring in AEW with Tony Schiavone and Ricky Saints
CM Punk in the ring in AEW with Tony Schiavone and Ricky Saints [via- TJR]

The company CEO Tony Khan revealed in a public video that AEW had terminated CM Punk‘s contract upon the recommendations of the AEW disciplinary committee and some outside legal counsel too. Khan claimed in the aforementioned video that never in his entire life did he feel that his life was in danger at a wrestling show until that incident happened.

‘The Best in the World’ broke silence about the turn of events that led to his AEW exit in an interview with Ariel Helwani in April 2024. Punk revealed that he originally wanted to quit AEW much earlier on the back of that infamous All Out media scrum in September 2022. However, the AEW head honcho managed to retain Punk by taking up several measures to keep him away from Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.

Khan created a new weekly episodic TV program named Collision to avoid any future alterations between Punk and The Elite. ‘The Straight Edge Superstar’ told Helwani in the aforementioned interview that he once told Khan that it’d never work in the long run. After his backstage skirmish with Perry, the ‘Voice of the Voiceless’ saw Khan in his office and told him that he was a clown to his face before saying he quit.

The 48-year-old also claimed that AEW didn’t even cover his injury expenses, and he had to go for surgery and the subsequent recovery on his own. It was during the time he got suspended from the company along with The Elite for their backstage altercation over the comments made by Punk at the All Out media scrum.

Despite all this, there’s still hope within AEW that CM Punk will make peace with the company even if he never wrestles again for them. Fightful recently noted that several AEW sources replied back saying “never say never” when asked if the Chicago-born wrestling icon has actually burned a bridge with AEW.

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