Former WWE Superstar CM Punk has not been seen on WWE television since the 2014 edition of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. He walked out of the company the next day and has not looked back since then. Following his WWE exit, many fans have been wanting to see Punk make his return to the company every year. He has yet to make his return to the squared circle and at this point, it seems very unlikely. A WWE Superstar was also previously punished for ripping off CM Punk.
CM Punk has been in talks with AEW for quite a while as indicated by reports and it all came true as The Second City Saint made his return to pro wrestling on AEW Rampage: The First Dance back in August last year.
During the post-AEW All Out media scrum, CM Punk verbally attacked Colt Cabana, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Ace Steel’s wife, who has a broken foot, was in the room when Ace and CM Punk fought Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks backstage at AEW All Out.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer shot down those rumors. Meltzer explained Punk joining WWE wouldn’t be possible at this point as he’s still under contract with AEW, adding that the claim that Steel was at Royal Rumble was also false.
There were reports going around regarding Chris Guy (Ace Steel) being at the Royal Rumble and then speculating that he was there to broker a deal for C.M. Punk. However, not only is that impossible at this point because Punk is under contract to AEW, but Guy wasn’t at the Rumble to begin with so that aspect of the story was incorrect from the start.
It was also noted that, “Guy worked with WWE as a producer from 2019 to April 2020 when he was furloughed due to COVID cutbacks, hired back in October 2020 before being let go at the start of 2022 where Punk got him into AEW.”
