CM Punk: The New WWE Regime Is Much More Accommodating To Newer Talent

At Survivor Series 2023, CM Punk made a return to WWE for the first time in almost a decade, and the landscape he found was much different from the one he left behind. Most notably, the company had Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque as the Chief Content Officer, running things differently to when Vince McMahon had full control. With over two years experience working under Levesque and TKO, Punk has now discussed the benefits he sees with WWE’s new regime.

Speaking to Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story?, CM Punk said newer talent are given more grace to make mistakes under WWE’s new regime, recalling times when people would get fired for poor punches in the past.

“There’s NXT talent that come up and they get thrown on RAW, and it’s like it’s sink or swim. But then they think one little mistake, it’s like the end of the world. It’s often not. I think it used to be. I think a lot of that’s left over from the old regime. I remember people getting fired because their punches sucked. And then we would all be down there in Kentucky like, ‘Oh my God.’ You almost didn’t want to get called up. You’re just like, ‘What happened? This was a great talent. They got sent up and they’re gone two weeks later. We thought for sure they were gonna make it.’ The turnover was a lot worse. I think it’s a lot better now. The system’s a lot more accommodating, and I think there’s people in positions of power that actually want to see people succeed.”

-CM Punk

Just two weeks after his stunning WWE return, CM Punk made an appearance on NXT Deadline, wanting to better familiarise himself with the talent of the future. Further making a connection between himself and the developmental brand, the 47-year-old went on to serve as the special guest referee in the NXT Championship match between Trick Williams and Ethan Page when the show made its debut on the CW Network back in October 2024.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Punk reflected on how the reaction to the ‘Pipe Bomb’ promo stopped him from taking a six-month break from WWE. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on CM Punk as soon as we hear more.

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