Hiya!

Well, I was wrong. I was so sure CM Punk would never, ever return to the WWE fold. After his very unceremonious exit way back in 2014, his early retirement which happened soon afterwards and his, in retrospect, disastrous return to the squared circle in AEW, I still believed CM Punk would ever even consider returning back to the WWE. Even with all the rumors swirling around with the fact this year’s Survivor Series would be happening in his hometown of Chicago, there was still no way the Second City Savior would ever step through the curtain and into the WWE spotlight.

Well, for me, the unthinkable did happen as CM Punk did walk through the curtain at Survivor Series. He did it at the very end of the show much to the surprise and delight of the hometown Chicago crowd.

Me, however, I have mixed feelings about all of it, which is kind of weird for me as I have and still am a huge CM Punk fan. I did scream in shock when Cult of Personality started blaring at the very end of Survivor Series as I was struck with joy to see him back in the WWE. However, once all of the adrenaline wore off and I started to think rationally again, I started to wonder if this was a good idea. Is it good for CM Punk to come back to the WWE?

Like I said, I’m a huge CM Punk fan so it’s always going to be a pleasure to see him wrestle again. He’s probably one of the best people on the mic when it comes to delivering promos as well as crafting a good story in the ring as well. He essentially one of the most watchable wrestlers both in the ring as well as on the mic, making him super entertaining for fans, especially of the more hardcore variety.

However, this is also kind of a problem because, right now, it’s hard to really discern if my love for CM Punk is more because of the nostalgic feeling he gives me. I can still remember the high of the entire Summer of Punk season in the WWE when he beat John Cena for the WWE Heavyweight Champion at Money in the Bank, running away with the title before others could take the Championship off him. Of course, you also have the infamous Pipe Bomb promo, which is what cemented me as a fan in the first place.

The Pipe Bomb made CM Punk a hero to a lot of WWE fans such as myself. I was tired of the entire John Cena experiment and the entire WWE way of being so sanitized as this was the PG Era. CM Punk was this breath of fresh air, spouting all the reasons why the entire WWE product has become stale and why we needed someone like himself to start shaking things up again. However, not everything he says can be as great as the Pipe Bomb. Oh, he’ll say things which do have the same passion of the first Pipe Bomb, but the content itself comes off as a little more preachy. This is especially true during his time in AEW since, as much as I love the guy, it never really connected with me there.

Then again, the idea of CM Punk coming back to the WWE does feel exciting as maybe he can start having dream matches with guys he never got to face off against since he left the company. I personally would love to see CM Punk take on guys like AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens, just to name a few. I can’t help but think of the really good in-ring story they would tell and it’s all entirely possible once again as he is back in the WWE.

However, while I would relish seeing CM Punk taking on those guys, I’m not sure if this would be the best use of his star power. He’s one of the most popular guys in, not just the WWE, but in all of sports entertainment. So, it doesn’t really make much sense to put him in programs which doesn’t make full use of his star power. At the same time, however, I don’t like the idea of CM Punk simply going after a title so soon after his return. We’ve seen the seeds planted with Seth Rollins going ballistic when CM Punk did make his first appearance at Survivor Series and this is probably the direction they’re going, which does feel unfortunate as I would rather see CM Punk get into some mid-level feuds to shine a spotlight on younger talent first before doing this.

With regards to new talent, CM Punk returning to the WWE does pose a problem, however, for a lot of other WWE Superstars as a lot of the limelight which was shining on them will no doubt be diverted to CM Punk. I have the sneaking suspicion LA Knight is really going to start losing his luster as we now have another established guy who’s super good on the mic. I can’t help but think Cody Rhodes, who just came from AEW himself, will get a lot of the wind knocked out of his sails as he isn’t in the title picture already. What more when fans will start clamoring for CM Punk to get in a program with someone like Roman Reigns?

However, the biggest concern I have with CM Punk returning to the WWE fold is, well, the animosity he seems to create with others in the locker room lately. When CM Punk arrived in AEW, it seemed like a match made in heaven. CM Punk was away from all the politics of the WWE but what he didn’t know about were all of the politics in AEW! This led to him getting into legitimate brawls against the likes of the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. CM Punk also is the type of guy who tries to dole out advice to younger guys and will become upset if you don’t follow that advice as this is what Jack Perry experienced during the entire “that’s real glass” brouhaha, which led to his firing at AEW. I do think WWE has better policies in place so this kind of thing won’t happen but it just goes to show you, while CM Punk is beloved by the fans, he isn’t so well liked or appreciated in the locker room.

Overall, while I’m glad CM Punk returned at Survivor Series and I am looking forward to seeing what he has in store for the WWE Universe, I don’t think this will end good at the end. Hopefully, the WWE will have more control over CM Punk than AEW did and they’ve actually worked out a couple of programs which can showcase his star power while not overshadowing the current roster too much. I really hope the WWE knows what they’re getting into. Triple H said it himself: Love him. Hate Him. Positive. Negative. Whatever you wanna say… People talk about him. All the time.

I hope he realizes that can either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Byee!

What do you think of CM Punk returning to the WWE? Let me know in the comments section below!