CM Punk walked out of WWE in 2014 and, after a brief stint in the UFC's Octagon, didn't step back into the squared cirlce until he made his AEW debut in 2021.
His time in the company was a ratings success but the Best in the World wasn't exactly welcomed by The Elite. Seemingly threatened by having to share the spotlight with a bigger star than them, all signs point to Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and "Hangman" Adam Page setting out to sabotage Punk.
Unable to keep his cool, Punk's frustrations ultimately boiled over, leading to the infamous "Brawl Out" incident and a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In this past August.
AEW subsequently fired Punk and we've since heard that he's now keen to end his pro wrestling career in WWE. Rumours swirl that he could debut at Survivor Series in Chicago next month and we've been hearing rumblings about talks taking place which may lead to it becoming a reality.
According to Fightful Select, Punk may not be planning a WWE return after all.
A supposed WWE higher-up has allegedly told the site, "Any reports of CM Punk signing with WWE are completely false, and additionally, as of October 10, the claim internally is that WWE is not in conversations with CM Punk about a comeback. There were several in the company that wanted to make that clear for fans expecting to see him at Survivor Series this year."
WWE sources are said to be adamant that no talks are taking place, though Punk may well have at least sent out feelers to the company.
So, what's the deal with all those recent teases on television? Another insider says, "They're sure that most of them are not cleared beforehand, and might be wrestlers doing it themselves, with the WWE talent saying they might even be doing it to get under CM Punk's skin."
Honestly, we're not buying any of this.
WWE doesn't let its Superstars go off-script and, if they had started teasing Punk's arrival when it's reportedly not happening, a stop would have been put to them by Saturday's Fastlane PLE. That's not to say Punk is definitely returning to WWE, of course, but we'd be shocked if signing him isn't a top priority for Endeavor.
Dave Meltzer, however, has claimed WWE turned Punk down as the negatives outweighed the positives. He's a mostly reliable source but also extremely close with The Elite, so that might be worth taking with a pinch of salt (especially when WWE will want any return to be a huge surprise).
As always, we'll keep you updated, but keep you expectations in check...