Corey Graves says he hasn’t been making CM Punk references on commentary

Think you’ve noticed CM Punk references on WWE broadcasts? Corey Graves says you’re just hearing what you want to hear.

If you think something is about to happen, it’s not hard to start seeing signs of it without looking too hard. That’s exactly what some WWE fans believe they’ve been seeing regarding a return for CM Punk, now famously available after being fired by AEW early last month.

For the segment of pro wrestling fandom that believes Punk to WWE is all but a done deal, the tea leaf reading has hit frenzied levels. One of the best examples came this past weekend during WWE Fastlane, when people were sure Corey Graves was hinting at Punk as a future opponent for World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (especially with Survivor Series coming up in Punk’s hometown of Chicago in November).

What did Graves say? That Punk was “”riding on the edge of a lightning bolt” after defeating Shinsuke Nakamura in a grueling Last Man Standing match at Fastlane to retain his title.

Why is that significant? Well, Punk has used that exact phrase on his social media accounts in the past, and a lightning bolt a prominent symbol on much of his merch.

Alas, Punk isn’t the person who coined that phrase, which is what Graves pointed out when he addressed the speculation on X (which we still haven’t got used to calling the former Twitter).

That, in turn, has set off a new round of arguments online between people who say “of course Graves would say he’s not mentioning Punk” but still believe it was intentional, while others accuse them of simply seeing what they want in the hopes of it coming true.

So is Punk actually on his way? We still don’t know for sure. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer thinks there are already talks underway. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp is slightly more cautious (subscription required), citing sources saying Punk would likely be up for it but also noting the olive branches he’d have to extend behind the scenes to some key people still mad at him from his last WWE stint.

Until “Cult of Personality” hits on a WWE show again or this all blows over, expect plenty more amateur detective work to be done analyzing what may or may not be a reference to something that might or might not go down.