‘I’m Home’: CM Punk Addresses WWE Universe on ‘Raw’ in First Appearance in Nearly 10 Years
CM Punk has returned home.
Those were the words echoed by the enigmatic and divisive star in his first message back in WWE. Taking the microphone at the conclusion of Raw, CM Punk delivered a message outlining his plans for his comeback to the company.
“Hell froze over,” CM Punk quipped as he opened his remarks.
“I didn’t know how I was going to react, and I didn’t know how it was going to go, but this made me feel like my old self, because this is where I belong,” he declared. “In over 10 years, you people never forgot me, even when maybe I wanted to forget me. That’s powerful. You are all powerful.”
Monday marked Punk’s first appearance on Raw since January 2014, with his last match against Billy Gunn. Punk revealed that since his return, he has been welcomed by “almost everybody” in the company, slyly alluding to the viral footage of Seth Rollins’ frustration on Saturday and the subsequent annoyance on Monday.
Punk’s grand return to WWE occurred on Saturday, following the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series. As Cody Rhodes and his team celebrated their win over The Judgment Day in the ring, the familiar strains of “Cult of Personality” filled the Allstate Arena, sending the crowd into a frenzy at the sight of their hometown hero.
This comeback unfolded nearly three months after Punk’s termination by All Elite Wrestling, where he was let go with cause after a backstage altercation following the “All In” pay-per-view in London. Speculation about Punk’s return to WWE had been rife since then. While rumors suggested he wouldn’t be at Survivor Series or immediately sign with WWE, the major surprise came after WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque revealed that the deal materialized when everyone thought it wouldn’t, describing it as “one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments.”
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