Actual reason behind 43-year-old Superstar using CM Punk’s finisher on Raw this week revealed

The talked-about spot on Raw this week featuring the GTS, courtesy of Shinsuke Nakamura, was believed to be a CM Punk tease.

Actual reason behind 43-year-old Superstar using CM Punk’s finisher on Raw this week revealed

CM Punk (Image Credits: AEW)

WWE keeps infusing CM Punk references into their shows. The string of those teases continued this week on Monday Night Raw. As seen by the fans, Shinsuke Nakamura used the “Go To Sleep” finishing maneuver on Ricochet during their brawl. That was more than enough for the internet to safely assume that it was WWE’s way to tell them that Punk was coming back to the Stamford-based promotion.

Ringside News finally has an update on whether Nakamura’s GTS spot was done on purpose. According to the outlet, the Japanese wrestler is a full-blown heel at the moment, and he could pull those tricks to aggravate his character. It wasn’t necessarily a CM Punk tease, the report added. The source also relayed the situation as wrongly blown in context.

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Hideo Itami, also known as Kenta, originated the GTS, or “Go To Sleep” move before CM Punk popularized it. Therefore, associating the move exclusively with CM Punk on WWE shows might not be accurate. Corey Graves has recently sparked debate for indirectly linking Punk to the move through his commentary.

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First on SmackDown before Fastlane, he pulled off the exact quote from CM Punk’s infamous ROH promo. Then, in the closing moments at Fastlane, he piped in yet another reference that was shortly featured in CM Punk’s Instagram story. On both occasions, Graves had to publicly address his statements on social media, as he seemingly shut down the fan narrative.

Related: WWE seemingly drops a subtle reference of CM Punk at Fastlane

CM Punk is not in talks with WWE about a potential return

Wrestling media outlets are experiencing fluctuations in their reports on CM Punk’s status with WWE. Initially, rumors suggested talks between Punk and WWE, with speculation of his potential appearance at this year’s Survivor Series. However, recent reports indicate a backtrack on these claims.

CM Punk
CM Punk isn’t close to a WWE return at all (via- AEW)

The latter report, courtesy of Nick Hausman, has now clarified that the company is not working on Punk’s WWE return. Moreover, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has also revealed the same. The keynotes suggest that WWE is well aware of the ongoing wave of fans expecting Punk to show up at Survivor Series in Chicago.

That said, company officials don’t want the fans to believe that way. The two parties are currently nowhere near starting a potential business talk. However, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t start negotiations. It will be interesting to see how things shape up in the coming months.

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