CM Punk returned to WWE on Saturday night in the closing moments of Survivor Series: WarGames. "The Voice of the Voiceless" has since generated record-breaking social media numbers for the company and once again proved what a blunder AEW made when Tony Khan decided to fire the "Real" AEW World Champion.
Now, new details have emerged about what led to Punk's dismissal. According to Fightful Select, a disciplinary committee was formed to decide the best course of action following Punk's alleged altercation with Jack Perry at All In, and it was made up of AEW General Counsel Chris Peck, an unnamed outside attorney, and former WWE Champion Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan.
One AEW roster member tells the site Danielson was considered an "appropriate moral compass who exemplifies objectivity," hence why he's been part of this committee since it was first formed. Currently, he's said to be responsible for handing out fines and was the one to break the news of Punk's firing to the AEW locker room.
Punk, a longtime friend of Danielson's, is thought to have been aware of his involvement and it's unclear whether there are any hard feelings between them. It's difficult to escape the feeling that the American Dragon is being used as a scapegoat here as it was bound to be Tony Khan who ultimately made the final decision to pull the plug on the Best in the World.
Blaming Danielson means he looks a little less foolish for letting such a valuable asset go. For what it's worth, though, Danielson appeared to acknowledge his role in what a loss to AEW Punk has been in an X post shared on Monday.
We also have news on Punk's RAW return last night. If you were disappointed by the brevity of his promo, it's said to be a result of his time being cut short after Randy Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio ran long. That's always a risk with live TV and footage of Punk doing a victory lap around the ring when RAW went off the air suggests he wasn't sweating it.
PWInsider notes that there were also never any plans for Punk to take any shots at AEW or Khan.
In fact, it's said there's a huge amount of positivity backstage and insiders claim Punk was friendly to talent and seemed "happy to be there." Even those sceptical about his WWE return are said to be sold on him, and it seems his WWE tenure has gotten off to a much better start than his rocky stint in AEW.