5 reasons why CM Punk should not return to in-ring WWE action
Ever since CM Punk left wrestling in January 2014, the rumors of him returning to the ring have been constant. The wide belief was that he was going to show up in TNA or even turn back to the place that got him noticed, Ring of Honor. He could have even gone back to his roots and jumped back into the booming independent scene.
The general feeling, even after the infamous podcast with Colt Cabana, was that he would be back in a ring, somewhere, sooner rather than later. Crowds chanted his name all over the country -- and it wasn't only WWE crowds.
ROH and TNA crowds hoped/expected him as well. We're on the precipice of Punk being gone for 6 years, so it seems that if Punk does end up returning to a wrestling promotion, it's closer to the 'later' end of sooner or later.
With the swell of fan support and overall interest in AEW, people became convinced that Punk would go there. Before Cody Rhodes and his friends even started the company, when it was just a one-off event in Chicago, everyone was sure that CM Punk was showing up.
A year later, Punk actually showed up at the weekend fanfest that accompanies some AEW events, Starrcast, right before this year's All Out event. That meant that Punk was definitely showing up at the big event in Chicago to announce that he was joining AEW -- and it would be a big blow to Vince McMahon and WWE.
Yet, nothing big has happened. Punk did poorly in a pair of MMA fights, has done some MMA commentary, and (allegedly) interfered in a match at a small independent show, hitting a wrestler with the Go 2 Sleep while completely covered in black and wearing a hoodie.
With reports that Punk had a tryout for WWE's new backstage talk show that is part of the deal with FOX, rumors have spun out of control that if he's willing to participate for WWE in a non-wrestling role, the next step has to be a return to the ring.
However, here are 5 reasons why CM Punk shouldn't return to a WWE ring.
#5 Could create too much drama
This may or may not prove to be a problem because six years is a long time, especially in the world of professional wrestling. With CM Punk, however, it could get ugly. It was widely reported years ago, but in a recent podcast, Booker T discussed the fact that Punk cut off contact with just about everyone in WWE.
There may have been some exceptions (his wife-to-be AJ Lee being the most obvious), but even great friends like Corey Graves were cut from Punk's circle, a move that to this day appears to still upset the WWE commentator.
The issue isn't necessarily with Punk and management. Men have set hotter fires to bigger bridges and Vince has welcomed them back with open arms. It's the possibility of tension in the locker room. Does Punk get his own locker room? Brock Lesnar does, why not Punk? If that happens, it could immediately cause a rift, and that may create a toxic environment.
The roster has certainly changed a lot since Punk left. He still knows some of those guys (who were in other companies before WWE), but as a whole, wrestlers have reportedly said, consistently, that for the most part the atmosphere backstage isn't as tense as it had been in years past. The return of one of the most polarizing figures in the last decade could potentially be bad news for morale.