For anyone still hoping to see CM Punk make a WWE return at Survivor Series next month, today brought the biggest signs to date that it’s unlikely to happen.
Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer mentioned in his newsletter last week that his sources believed WWE and Punk were “in talks” about a possible reunion. However, Meltzer updated that story Tuesday night on Wrestling Observer Radio and said that WWE had decided against bringing him in at this time.
The decision was a no. He wanted to go there and the decision was a no. I mean, it can always change and it was brought up to me that there is no such thing as no forever when it comes to WWE but it’s no for now.
It’s Vince’s decision. Vince, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque and, obviously, they decided that the negatives outweighed the positives.
Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling agrees, reporting that “Punk will not be at Survivor Series, is not under a new WWE deal, and the two sides are not talking.”
What makes the situation intriguing is how the dynamic has changed since Punk departed from WWE in 2014. At that time, he sounded like someone who would never want to work with the company again, citing disagreements over creative, how his health was handled and how he was informed of his termination.
But forever is a short time in the pro wrestling industry, and now it appears Punk wants to go back and WWE decided against it. It’s a sign of how radioactive he’s made himself at the moment in the wake of his firing by AEW earlier this year.
This doesn’t mean his wrestling career is over if he doesn’t want it to be. Impact Wrestling is a potential landing spot, and Meltzer has said several times that if he wanted to go to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he’d be welcomed there (though he doubts Punk would want to at this point in his career).
All eyes will be on Punk to see what his next move will be, but that’s really no different than it often is. Unless something changes quickly and drastically, it just won’t be with WWE.