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After watching the stunning WWE return of CM Punk at Survivor Series, Cody Rhodes opined that the company was getting a “hungry” version of him. Considering how it feels like his last chance at stardom on the biggest pro wrestling stage, that’s understandable — but WWE may also have taken some steps to ensure it stays that way.
Fightful Select (subscription required but recommended) served up its latest update on how Punk is settling in to WWE so far, including his appearance in the final segment of Raw this past Monday. The conclusion was that it was “so far, so good” behind the scenes.
But the most interesting part was what’s reportedly in Punk’s new WWE deal, though Fightful couldn’t confirm it at this time.
Those that we heard from said he was on his best behavior as anticipated, and with good reason – some in WWE were told by higher ups that there is a behavior clause associated with his contract, which we’ve yet to confirm.
Considering Punk’s own tumultuous history with WWE, culminating in an ugly split in 2014, a behavior clause would be smart business. And even though WWE never references AEW by name on screen, it would also be foolish to ignore the issues that led to that company firing him for cause after his second backstage altercation in less than a year.
We aren’t labor lawyers here at Wrestling Junkie, but the idea would be that Punk’s contract has specific language in it that makes it easier for WWE to terminate his deal if there are off-camera incidents this time around. For the sake of his fans and WWE management, let’s hope we never have to see if that’s the case.
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