CM Punk’s stellar return to the WWE was promulgated, reportedly, due to some decisions made by ECW’s Bryan Danielson. CM Punk took his hometown Chicago by storm after making an unexpected return to the company in the Survivor Series pay-per-view last weekend.
Amid all the excitement surrounding the return of the prodigal son, one report has emerged suggesting that a familiar face was behind Punk’s termination from AEW. According to the Fightful Select, reported by several media outlets, the decision to fire the former WWE wrestler from the AEW was reached in a committee spearheaded by Bryan Danielson also known as Daniel Bryan.
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Earlier this year, AEW President Tony Khan revealed that CM Punk’s contract with the company had been terminated. The decision to remove him from AEW’s roster came after an internal investigation that revealed that Punk had gotten into a backstage altercation with fellow wrestler Jack Perry. The duo had reportedly gotten into a physical brawl during their pay-per-view show at Wembley Stadium in London. ESPN later revealed the official statement that was released on X. It read, “Following the investigation, the AEW Discipline Committee met and later convened with outside counsel before making a unanimous recommendation to [AEW owner Tony] Khan that CM Punk be terminated with cause.”
With his departure from the AEW, the rumours of a potential return to the WWE kept arising. However, it was later revealed that the star had spoken to his close ones and suggested that he wasn’t working towards signing with his former company. Later, WWE action moved to the US state of Illinois for their Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 25. Despite no statements from the WWE about their former star, several chants screaming “CM Punk” were already being voiced since the beginning of the show until the moment finally arrived. Punk walked down in the wrestling aisle once again, amidst a thunderous reception from his home crowd, confirming all the rumours.
This marked the end of CM Punk’s eight-year absence from the company. He shared an official post on Instagram, marking his return. In another post, the wrestler posed alongside WWE’s Head of Creative Paul Levesque, popularly known amongst the fans as Triple H. In the caption, the wrestler wrote, “Mighty cold day in hell. #SurvivorSeries”.
Punk next made his appearance on WWE Raw after almost a decade, stating that he was in the company to make money and not friends. While the promo was fairly successful, fans couldn’t help but note Punk’s slightly restrained behaviour which was quite unusual given his habit of speaking freely. It will be interesting to see how well this move ultimately proves to be for the WWE.