Even with the surprise addition of CM Punk, WWE Backstage struggled to find an audience on Fox Sports 1. As a result, it was ultimately cancelled, and that brought the Best in the World's latest stint with WWE to a close (he had, however, signed a contract with FOX rather than WWE).
Now, all signs are pointing to Punk heading to AEW. That company feels like the best possible fit for his potential in-ring return, but has he been keeping an eye on the WWE product?
"No, I had to watch it a little bit when I was an analyst for FOX," he admitted. "But I mean, how do I say this diplomatically? Um, no, I think they've got some people who are super awesome and great in the ring, but you know, nothing grabs me to get me to want to watch."
"I'm getting a little long in the tooth now. I would much rather uplift and show love to things I like than to tear anything down," Punk added. "You know, you can't say that what they're doing is wrong. They are the most profitable they've ever been since their inception, so who am I to say, you know what I mean? It's like ice cream, there's 31,000 flavors, everybody gets their favorite, I just don't like vanilla."
Vanilla isn't actually a terrible comparison when it comes to talking about RAW and SmackDown these days, and it's no great surprise that Punk has decided against continuing to watch the WWE product.
Rumour has it that big AEW debut is going to happen during next Friday's episode of Rampage, so all eyes will be on that. If it doesn't happen, fans won't be happy, but Punk hasn't stepped into the ring since 2014, so many fans discounted the possibility of a return quite some time ago.
We're keeping everything crossed, though...