CM Punk returned to WWE at last November's Survivor Series: WarGames and, unfortunately, suffered a torn triceps during January's Royal Rumble match.
After being taken out by Drew McIntyre on RAW, Punk has made it his business to torment the Scottish Warrior, costing him the World Heavyweight Championship on three separate occasions. They're now on a collision course at SummerSlam, but where exactly do things stand with Punk's recovery?
"I like to keep people in suspense," he said at the Money in the Bank post-show press conference mere hours after attacking McIntyre during his failed cash-in attempt. "I will say that I feel great and I'm ready to go, and there are things in place to protect me against myself that I maybe wish were in place ten years ago, but we don't need to talk about the past."
"[I'm working with] great personnel, great facilities. I'm busting my ass to get back, if I can steal what John [Cena] was talking about, for the fans," Punk continued. "I've been working very hard to rush the rehab and come back. Everyone behind me has supported it, but they've also been like, 'We're not in a hurry,' and I love that."
During the same Q&A, the Best in the World was asked whether his wife, former WWE Superstar AJ Lee, might make her own WWE return. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like that's on the cards right now.
"I don't want to fall in the trap of saying 'never say never.' I don't wanna give people false hope," he explained. "I also will not put words in her mouth and say, 'I think this could happen.' I think this is a brave new world and I don't think a lot of people thought I was gonna show up. It's really all on her."
Lee retired from WWE in 2015 and has since shifted her focus to writing both her New York Times best-selling book and Blades of the 47 Ronin, a movie released in 2022.
"I always say I'm a bad husband because I never know what project she's talking about," Punk joked. "'Oh I have a meeting', and I'm like, 'With who? Is it Netflix? Is it Hulu? Is it CBS?' I don't know. She's got so many irons in so many different fires."
Check out another angle of his surprise appearance at Money in the Bank below.