In the early days of the show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” every episode’s credits ended with the phrase, “Keep circulating the tapes.” For the pre-internet, VHS era, this plea for enthusiasts to record episodes and swap them with others was the way to keep buzz for the series going, hopefully to the point of making a TV network feel it would be missing out by not airing the series.
Groundswells of fan support travel much differently in 2023, but the idea of fans pressuring companies with a sort of reverse FOMO still remains. For fans wishing to see CM Punk back in WWE, chanting his name at shows is the modern equivalent of “Keep circulating the tapes.”
Could it actually work and manifest a Punk signing? Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer thinks it’s possible. In his latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Meltzer says he has heard the same things that Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp and others have reported: that the people within WWE who would usually be tuned into a big return like Punk’s haven’t heard anything, and there’s no reason to think he’ll be showing up at Survivor Series.
However, Meltzer also suggests that the one thing that could make WWE reconsider its stance on Punk is if crowd responses signal there would be significant disappointment if the company doesn’t bring him back.
If they believe there is a fan groundswell for it, they could give it a shot. There were reports of chants for Punk at both the Saudi Arabia show and on the Raw show in Wilkes-Barre on 11/6. We had been privately told that fan response would be something that could change things from a negative, particularly not wanting for the crowd to loudly want him and not have it be delivered. We were also given the indication again this week that there’s nothing to the rumors, the feeling was a negative but fan response can change that and nothing is ever not ever.
There’s little debate over whether WWE needs Punk back. It certainly doesn’t, as business is good and the overall creative direction remains well regarded under Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
The question then becomes what percentage of fans would be upset if there’s no reunion. It’s clear there are a number of users of the service formerly known as Twitter that are convinced Punk is returning, and that WWE has been hinting toward it on its broadcasts over the past few months.
How angry will those people be if Survivor Series comes and goes? Will they revolt or simply have faith that Punk shows up down the road (like at Royal Rumble)? And how large a chunk of overall WWE fandom are they?
That remains to be seen. But for those invested in seeing Punk grace a WWE ring again, chanting for him at shows as a signal for how much they want to see it is the best thing they could be doing right now.
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