CM Punk feared that his days in the ring were over once again following his exit from All Elite Wrestling following his second suspension.
Punk was fired in September 2023 after being involved in two backstage fights at AEW pay-per-view events in under one year.
On a recent edition of the “No Contest Wrestling” podcast, Punk reflected on his WWE return, which he didn’t see happening at the time. He said,
“When I exit AEW, I probably did think that I was done. That happened in August or September. I’m kind of chilling, and Nick Khan calls me in November. ‘When are you free and clear?’ I’m like, ‘Nick…I was fired.’ Very publicly.”
Punk added that Nick Khan had a different idea for Punk’s return, one that the ex-AEW star found to be cliche. He said,
“When we first started talking, it was the typical Rumble. ‘You come in for the Rumble.’ Me, being the creative I am, ‘I get it, but that’s what you do with everybody. Everybody gets that.’ It was a gift. Survivor Series is in Chicago. It’s in three days and one of those three days is Thanksgiving.”
Punk has been one of WWE’s most featured performers in 2024, and won at WWE Bad Blood inside Hell in a Cell against Drew McIntyre.
