CM Punk wanted to be a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble.
As reported by Fightful Select, Punk considered returning to WWE for the event while sidelined in late 2022 after requiring surgery following his title match at All Out. Specific plans were to have “Cult of Personality” ring out through the arena in January 2023 to once again shock the wrestling world.
The report notes that at that point in time, the relationship between Punk and AEW remained “contentious” as this was after the infamous Brawl Out incident occurred. However, the former AEW Champion was in regular contact with Tony Khan while he was recovering.
It should be noted that this was an idea by Punk himself. There was not a lot of traction to WWE being interested in the idea and AEW were not looking at at letting Punk go at this point.
In regards to plans on the day and moving forward, it is reported that Punk would go into a WrestleMania program with whoever eliminated him from the Rumble. While not confirmed, one name that was thrown around was Kevin Owens.
Ever since Punk left WWE in 2014, it looked as if the chances of the former WWE Champion making a return were very unlikely and seemed pretty much impossible in August 2021 when Punk became All Elite. However, following the AEW debut cracks would start to appear in the relationship and cause tension between Punk and other members of the roster. Punk was fired from AEW on September 2nd, one day before the All Out pay-per-view that was taking place in his hometown of Chicago.
In recent news, a former WCW booker has predicted that CM Punk will headline WrestleMania 40.
When Could CM Punk Show Up In WWE?
With AEW usually opting to let wrestler’s contracts expire instead of releasing them, the length if any of a non-compete clause is unknown. When a contract expires e.g. in the case of Cody Rhodes, the talent is free to wrestle the next day. Despite Punk nor Tony Khan stating any specifics about the release following the announcement, many WWE fans are optimistic that Survivor Series in Chicago would be the location if Punk wanted to come back for one more run.
In an alternative view of Punk’s future, Jeff Jarrett wonders if the former World Champion would want to start his own promotion.