It seems as if wherever CM Punk goes, controversy follows and his surprise return to WWE is no different.
Punk’s sensational comeback at Survivor Series: WarGames was met by a thunderous ovation from the fans, but an angry reaction from Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, who “stormed out” of the arena immediately after the match.
Rollins has previously spoken about his dislike of Punk and publically called him a “locker room cancer” in an interview with Nick Hausmen earlier this year. This could explain his expletive-filled response, but another reason could be the bombshell aspect of Punk’s appearance.
According to reports, Punk’s comeback was known to only a select few within the company, which could lead to some members of the locker room losing trust in Triple H. Now Fightful Select is reporting that several WWE Superstars are upset at the return.
CM Punk’s WWE return resulted in mixed emotions from talent.
The report claims that talent were notified of Punk’s return before the main event men’s WarGames match. The news was met with mixed emotions and aside from Rollins and McIntyre, numerous talents were generally upset with the news while others were excited and curious.
The report also states that while they were unable to clarify if these reactions were legitimate, they have been presented as genuine.
Punk is a polarising character within the wrestling community and has both avid fans and enemies. His real-life rivalry with Triple H and dislike of the company is well-documented. During his AEW run, he took multiple shots at his former employers, which led many to believe his return to WWE would never happen. However, for the sake of the fans and making money, Triple H and Nick Khan pursued the shocking comeback.
Speaking at the Survivor Series: WarGames Press Conference, Triple H addressed the return.
This was one of those sort of lightning in a bottle moments that came together very quickly but we are incredibly excited about it. It’s been a long time, and in some ways been a long time coming.
You could say this about CM Punk, love him, hate him, positive, negative, whatever you want to say. People talk about him all the time, he is a magnet for that. He is a conversation starter, and it’s tough to look past that. And for me, if our fans want it, if the WWE Universe is excited to have it, then let’s go and we’ll figure out the rest of it from there.
This came together super quick, which I’m sure is why it stayed very tight. There’s a lot of speculation at that point, it was nothing but speculation. For most of the time, it was speculation it didn’t really start to come to fruition until everybody stopped thinking it was going to happen. And then all of a sudden it was happening but extremely excited.
A lot of time has gone by almost ten years, right? And if you are the same person you were ten years ago, ten years later, you’ve messed up. Everybody grows, everybody changes and I’m a different person, he’s a different person, this is a different company and we’re all on the same even starting ground.
So what’s next for CM Punk? That’ll be interesting, won’t it? Yeah, I’m interested to see that myself, I know whatever it is, it’ll be talked about, it’ll be exciting and it’ll be a thrill ride for the WWE Universe no matter what it is. And I’m thrilled, we’re all thrilled, to have him back here and to have him back cliched to say but have him back home in WWE to where he belongs.