It’s not true to say that bridges can’t ever be burned in pro wrestling. Owen Hart’s family, understandably, has never forgiven WWE for his tragic death. Another Hart, Bret, appears that he will carry his grudge against Goldberg with him for the rest of his life.
But let’s just say that lots of those bridges are pretty fire resistant. People and companies that would never work together again in other walks of life find themselves reuniting in pro wrestling on a regular basis.
Despite that truth, CM Punk and WWE seemed like two entities that weren’t likely to find their way back to each other. The two had the messiest of divorces in 2014, and Punk wasn’t shy about speaking publicly on his dissatisfaction with how he was treated toward the end of his WWE run. He even went a step further and said it destroyed his passion for the business.
Yes, Punk did a brief stint on “WWE Backstage” prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (under contract with FOX and not WWE). That’s still a far cry from being back in a WWE ring, and when Punk felt the urge to wrestle again, it was hardly surprising that he chose to sign with AEW instead. Too much bad blood to go back, or so it seemed.
Of course, that was before anyone knew that Punk’s time in AEW would flame out so fast and so spectacularly. It’s almost inconceivable, given how he gave the still-young promotion a shot in the arm as soon as he showed up in 2021, that we would be discussing the possibility that by the end of 2022, his stint there might already be over.
It’s still not a sure thing, as AEW has never commented publicly about the fallout from the now infamous post-All Out press conference, where among other things, he challenged people who had a problem with him to come express that to his face, and the brawl that took place when Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks apparently took him up on his offer.
What we’ve learned since is that a bunch of people were suspended while AEW performed an internal investigation. Some of them have returned, The Elite look like they may be back on TV very soon, and Punk’s friend and trainer Ace Steel, who was also involved in the melee, was let go.
Punk is the figure whose fate most intrigues wrestling fans, yet it remains unknown. It’s possible that there’s a lack of urgency because the injury he suffered at All Out means he can’t wrestle until 2023 anyway. Or maybe he and AEW are still discussing things behind the scenes, whether it’s his eventual return or terms of his departure.
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite raised some eyebrows by hinting at the latter. When Chris Jericho made an open challenge to any former ROH champion, Wednesday night in Baltimore, it was answered by Colt Cabana. Considering he was the very person Punk’s press scrum tirade started with — as well as someone who Punk was accused of getting buried in AEW because of their personal beef — it was easy to read Cabana’s appearance as “well that’s it, Punk’s gone.”
Whether that’s actually the case remains to be seen. What’s interesting now is that enough people believe Punk is finished with AEW that speculation has turned to where he might go next. And truly, unless Punk fancied a stint with New Japan, there’s only one place it would make sense to pop up at this stage in his career: back in WWE, naturally.
There aren’t many wrestlers left who would cause a huge stir by showing up unexpectedly on Raw or SmackDown in 2023. Punk is the exception to that rule, and figures to be at the very top of the list considering his name recognition, enduring popularity, and yes, curiosity over what’s gone down between him and AEW.
For Punk, a reconciliation with WWE would be relatively easy to justify. Most of his venom on his way out was directed toward Vince McMahon, who no longer runs the company he built into a global powerhouse. To be sure, Punk and Paul “Triple H” Levesque have their own history of animosity, but WWE’s current head of creative would undoubtedly put that aside if he truly felt it would be best for business.
The question then becomes whether it’s worth risking the reportedly improved morale throughout the WWE roster since McMahon stepped aside. Warranted or not, Punk now has the aura of someone who in unscripted sports would be called a locker room cancer — the kind of talent that would make a team have deep conversations to determine whether his positives truly outweigh his negatives.
In other words, Levesque and his team aren’t going to being back Punk just for the reaction he’d get when walking out for the first time, nor for the kind of online buzz created by the Bray Wyatt White Rabbit campaign. But it’s not a complete nonstarter either, with Fightful Select recently reporting one of its sources saying “they would likely be interested in possibly procuring the services of Punk.”
Back in 2014 or 2015, suggesting that Punk would ever be a WWE wrestler again would have gotten you laughed at, possibly by the man himself. It’s no longer a comedic notion, however, but just the latest possible example that in pro wrestling, “never again” is a concept that rarely applies.