00:00 On the eve of Survivor Series War Games 2023, there was a lot of buzz and chatter with fans
00:05 only talking about one name who they wanted to see, CM Punk. It was reported earlier that WWE
00:12 intentionally announced Randy Orton's return after an injury that put him on the shelf for over a
00:17 year for Survivor Series so that it could ensure that fans wouldn't be expecting CM Punk to make
00:23 his long-anticipated WWE return. The speculation continued, but it's now known that it was only a
00:30 two-fold intention behind this. So CM Punk is back in WWE. It's truly shocking. Despite Randy Orton's
00:37 triumphant return to help Team Cody at War Games, all everyone was talking about was Punk, and for
00:43 a good reason. Now that the "best in the world" is back home, making that return in his hometown,
00:49 Iowa, is one of the loudest reactions I've ever heard as a wrestling fan. And after nearly 10
00:56 years, he is once again the most talked about man in all of pro wrestling. Yes, beyond WWE too.
01:04 It's time to explore what lies ahead for CM Punk. It's Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin,
01:10 get into the comments below and let us know what you think about CM Punk returning to WWE,
01:14 and maybe who you want to see him tangle with. It's pretty simple, there's only one story for CM
01:19 Punk upon his immediate return to WWE, and the wheels may have already been set in motion for
01:24 that. While the camera was focused on Punk, there's been some fan footage of what quickly
01:29 emerged during the fallout of his return. Since WWE had all of the contestants at the big men's
01:34 War Games match already in the ring and cage, except for Drew McIntyre, who quickly left the
01:39 area, and actually left the arena, the moment seemed to have been hijacked by one man who
01:45 wasn't happy about it. At least on everyone's cell phone, you could see it, and it was Seth
01:51 Freakin' Rollins, who was furious. The footage showed an infuriated Seth Rollins being held back
01:57 by WWE commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves, along with some backstage officials
02:02 and the WWE security team. Not only was Rollins trying to make his way towards Punk immediately,
02:07 he was showing who was number one in the business by flipping the bird at him,
02:12 while security and other people were just trying to calm everything down. We don't 100% know whether
02:17 or not Seth Rollins was in on this entire big reveal as it's been reported, but we certainly
02:22 saw him have a legitimate level of passion in his response. I think we can confirm that.
02:29 Seth Rollins is a true professional, through and through, and while there's no actual report to
02:34 confirm how much he knew and how he reacted in a certain way and whether or not it was scripted,
02:39 you gotta say that there's something in play here. In case you haven't figured it out yet,
02:44 Seth Rollins doesn't have a lot of love for CM Punk, and let's just say that we're being kind
02:50 in saying that. The issues between them are not new, and they actually go back quite a while.
02:55 CM Punk was a central key figure in Rollins making his WWE main roster debut once again
03:03 at Survivor Series in 2012 in Indianapolis, where the Shield trio of Rollins, Dean Ambrose,
03:09 and Roman Reigns hit the scene and helped then villainous CM Punk retain the WWE Championship
03:16 in the main event. Fast forward to 2019, I interviewed Seth Rollins for Q101 Radio in
03:23 Chicago prior to that year's Survivor Series, where this conflict once again arose due to a
03:29 social media back and forth between Rollins and Punk, with Rollins going so far as to call out
03:36 Punk to return to the ring for "the match." Yeah, and then Rollins said this.
03:43 "At the end of the day, if he wants to come on a show and run his mouth about me and about a
03:46 company that he has no part of for the last five years, then of course I'm going to stand up for
03:51 it. This is a place that has given me everything that I've ever wanted in my life. So if CM Punk
03:56 wants to talk all the smack in the world, I've invited him a million times to now come to my
04:02 ring, come to my domain on live television, where you can't hide behind anything, no desk in LA.
04:07 Come, let's do this thing, man. Let's fight. Let's fight it out like men."
04:11 "Bottom line is, wherever, whenever he wants to do the thing, if he wants to man up and do it,
04:16 I'm there. For me, the only place the match happens is WrestleMania, the main event, because
04:21 that's the only reason I'm picking a fight with him. I got no other interest in that. So if he's
04:27 interested, it's out there, man." Yeah, he gave us a big headline there.
04:33 Since then, CM Punk did return to wrestling, except not for WWE, but for their arch-nemesis
04:39 AEW, making headlines there while also dissing WWE along the way and getting into separate
04:46 backstage issues. CM Punk even returned for the formation of a new TV show, AEW Collision.
04:52 It was around this time that Nick Houseman of House of Wrestling interviewed Rollins
04:57 during Summerslam weekend and asked him about his opinion on the man named Phil Brooks,
05:02 CM Punk. And this is what he had to say. "Oh, Philly Phil, stay away. Stay away,
05:09 you cancer. Get away from me forever. I don't like Phil. I don't like Phil. He's a jerk.
05:15 Did we just figure that out? No. Everybody in the room is like, 'Oh, no, did he just say that?'
05:21 Yeah. No. He's a jerk. Come on. We figured it out over there. We knew it over here. I don't
05:28 want him back. Go do something else. See you later." In a separate interview not so long
05:33 after this one with Kavino and Rich of Fox Sports Radio, Rollins clarified his comments and cooled
05:39 down his stance on Punk just a bit. He essentially said that it pained him to say such negative
05:45 things about Punk because he had given his career so much. Rollins said that there is a place for
05:51 him in the wrestling business, but he's not a fan of the headspace that Punk has been in for the
05:56 last six or seven years. In all likeliness, he didn't take too kindly to the brawlout incident
06:03 that occurred over in AEW with Punk and how he handled things backstage. If it was intentional,
06:09 then you can be confident of the possibility of CM Punk vs Seth Rollins in a big match in the near
06:16 future. If you think about it, this is the best possible direction for Seth Rollins as well
06:23 come WrestleMania season. So he wants to make that money. Let's make that money.
06:28 We're yet to see how WWE handles Punk and how they're going to build up the feud
06:33 when there are two months of no premium live events until Royal Rumble 2023.
06:40 And you have the looming threat of Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion,
06:44 with Damian Priest and The Judgment Day looming around every corner with that money in the bank
06:49 briefcase that they could cash in on him. That is something that could maybe culminate on the way to
06:55 the 2024 Royal Rumble in January. Here, Rollins needs to win it back clean. And while Punk enters
07:03 the 2024 Royal Rumble, you can have virtually the entirety of December and January focused on
07:09 Damian Priest and The Judgment Day becoming a real threat to the World Heavyweight Champion in Rollins,
07:16 and maybe they even cash it in on him and he has to chase it back for a big rematch
07:20 at the 2024 Royal Rumble in January. Here, Rollins needs to win it back clean.
07:27 While Punk enters the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble and wins the whole thing. This lines Punk up for what
07:34 he wants, the main event of WrestleMania, something he never got to have in the past.
07:40 And maybe some of you out there are like, hey, what about Gunther or Cody?
07:45 We have a response for that. For Cody, it seems obvious that he's already locked in for the whole
07:50 chasing Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship again, and all you need is a number one contenders
07:56 match at Elimination Chamber to determine that. As for Gunther, the longest reigning
08:01 Intercontinental Champion, it might finally be time to start wrapping up that historic reign.
08:07 Is that something that's above CM Punk right now? That's debatable.
08:10 Also, Rollins is not the only member of the WWE locker room who appeared to be upset
08:15 with Punk's reintroduction. Randy Orton, who was injured for well over a year with a lower back
08:22 problem that nearly ended his career, made a truly triumphant return to the ring inside WarGames.
08:28 It's just clear that Punk is overshadowing him right now in the conversation, and the Viper
08:34 may be in those same shadows, ready for a revengeful form and an RKO that comes out of nowhere.
08:42 Yeah, maybe Orton didn't like his spotlight being stolen. Yeah, it's 2011's most underrated feud
08:49 replayed for today. Let's not forget the former WWE NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura,
08:55 who on WWE television has recently been instituting Punk's GTS finisher now and then,
09:01 while also menacingly calling out some unnamed rival. Is the name of that rival CM Punk? Is
09:08 Nakamura the appetizer for Punk before he gets on the road to WrestleMania?
09:13 As for the World Heavyweight Title, we'll see CM Punk win his first ever Royal Rumble,
09:17 that's just our prediction, and then he'll lock down that WrestleMania 40 Night 1 or Night 2
09:22 scenario. If Cody vs Roman is headlining one of the nights of WrestleMania, maybe Punk and Rollins
09:27 get to have that other night. This could also fulfill the dreams of Rollins to have that
09:32 headline magic at Mania, something that he hasn't had, and something, once again, that Punk also
09:38 wants. If you're thinking of WrestleMania 31 when he cashed in Money in the Bank, that hardly counts,
09:43 right? And there you have it, a simple and effective buildup to the biggest possible
09:47 match CM Punk can have outside of Roman Reigns in just a few months after his return. Speaking of
09:53 CM Punk vs Roman Reigns, you can check out our fantasy booking video on how Punk vs Roman
09:59 could go down. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
10:03 [outro music]
Comments