Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: aew, cm punk, kenny omega, Triple H, wrestling, wwe

CM Punk Returning To Wrestling? Maybe. Maybe Not. He's Not Even Sure

Published Wed, 14 Apr 2021 12:35:33 -0500

CM Punk seems perfectly content being Phil Brooks, the guy also known as CM Punk. He hasn't wrestled for any promotion in the world since leaving WWE in 2014 and while he has tried different things since then, such as two fights in UFC, writing comics for Marvel, and even acting, it is wrestling that is always brought up when he is asked about what he's doing next? And while he has teased fans here and there about maybe returning to the wrestling ring, nothing has come of it and he doesn't seem to need it in his life anymore. Though that doesn't mean he doesn't think about it.

CM Punk appears on WWE Raw — CM Punk on WWE Raw, giving his famous "pipe bomb" speech on 6/27/2011, courtesy of WWE.

In a new interview with UPROXX published online yesterday, CM Punk talks about his life, in general, these days and his upcoming film that he starred in, Jakob's Wife. Of course, when questions about pro-wrestling and the possibility of his returning to it came up, he wasn't shy about sharing his thoughts.

When asked what the right situation would be or the right amount of money would be for him to return to the wrestling ring, CM Punk said the following:

"I think the right combination could maybe be figured out, but it's also not for me to figure out. It's not my world anymore," Brooks said. "I'm certainly not Hulk Hogan, where I'm going to show up somewhere and like, 'no, this is how it's going to be.' The wrestling world doesn't necessarily need CM Punk and that's absolutely fine. Everyone seems to be doing great. I don't know, it's like flavors of ice cream. I walk into an ice cream shop one time and I'm like, 'Oh, that seems like a good flavor. Give me two scoops of that.' It's just gotta be the right time, right place, right situation."

So in reading his words, we can tell that he's obviously not desperate for a return and is willing to wait and see if the perfect situation were to present itself. But with that in mind, would that perfect situation be more likely in a return to WWE or maybe testing new waters in AEW?

"From a creative mind standpoint, stepping back and looking at the landscape of everything, there are people in WWE that I have wrestled before that maybe, in a certain situation could be interesting," Brooks said. "There's also the business side of things. What's the biggest possible match for CM Punk? I think there's Kenny Omega on the one side. And, you know, unfortunately, ironically enough, for me to go back to WWE, who's the biggest match for me? It's probably Triple H. That's ironic because it's nothing I'm interested in. It's just what it is. Am I going to be a businessman and say that's the match, that's the big-money match? Well, it's not my money, so it's not for me to say."

So let's look at the two options here. First, in AEW with a CM Punk vs Kenny Omega program, you're all but guaranteed an excellent match or series of matches that we've never seen before between two guys that are willing and able to push all the buttons to really create something memorable. Now in WWE, he says he'd probably have to face Triple H, which I know fans would groan at, as we've seen it before and Triple H vs anyone at this point isn't very exciting. But let me throw this out there: while the match itself (which almost certainly would happen at a Wrestlemania and that's not an event that AEW can possibly match) would be fine while admittedly not being as exciting as Punk vs Omega, how good would the program be leading up to it?

CM Punk Returning To Wrestling? Maybe. Maybe Not. He's Not Even Sure — Triple H and CM Punk facing off on Raw in 2011, courtesy of WWE.

For fans that crave shoot-realism, we'd see CM Punk and Triple H throw out anything scripted and honestly address anything that led up to and followed Punk's departure in 2014. Seeing Phil Brooks and Paul Levesque legit go at it in on-air face-offs would give fans plenty more "pipe bomb" moments and maybe even some catharsis for what went down not only in 2014 but in the "Summer of Punk" in 2011 that was largely derailed by the involvement of Triple H.

Ultimately this is all up to CM Punk and whoever he chooses (if he does) to work with. I'm a fan of the guy and would love to see him have one more go at wrestling under the right circumstances, but I also respect that he's someone that left the business when he felt he had to for his own good and now he is at peace and happy as a person. And in the wrestling business, that's, unfortunately, a story we rarely get to write about retired wrestlers.

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