"This means the world to me" - Ex-UFC fighter CM Punk surprised with special gift from Madison Square Garden
CM Punk was recently surprised with a very special gift from Madison Square Garden following last night's WWE live event in the iconic venue.
The ex-UFC fighter was featured in a match against Dominik Mysterio at the live event, which marked his first WWE singles match since leaving the company in 2014. The live event was a success for the Endeavor entity as they reportedly sold out 'MSG', which is quite impressive because it wasn't one of their monthly PLEs or a televised episode of Raw or SmackDown.
WWE took to their X account, where they shared a video of Punk being gifted a special commemorative ticket stub for the event. He was clearly surprised and mentioned how significant the gift was for him, saying:
"Wow. Oh guys, this is so neat. 'Welcome home CM Punk. First WWE match in a decade. December 26, 2023. Sold out Madison Square Garden'. This means the world to me, it really does. I thought it [the gift] was gonna be like a key to a secret bathroom or something...This is much cooler."
The Chicago native joined the UFC in 2014 following his departure from WWE and ended up competing in the octagon twice and retired with an official MMA record of 0-1-1.
Former UFC champion Anthony Pettis shares exchange with CM Punk following his WWE return
Anthony Pettis recently shared the exchange he had with CM Punk following his long-awaited WWE return at Survivor Series this past November.
Pettis and Punk were teammates at Roufusport, where the two developed a friendship. During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former UFC and WEC lightweight champion shared his reaction to the surprise WWE return and their text message exchange, saying:
"I was surprised like everybody else...He didn't say a thing about it...So I was very excited for him and I text him right away, and I think his response was, 'Let's take over the world, brother.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, let's go, man. That's awesome.'" [15:06 - 15:44]