Many eyebrows were raised when the news that CM Punk was present at last night’s WWE Raw in Chicago was brought to attention. The 44-year-old has been absent from AEW TV since his infamous press conference comments and subsequent physical altercation on September 4, however, Punk is still under contract with Tony Khan’s company, making his appearance backstage at Raw all the more surprising.
It was revealed that the AEW World Champion used his time at the Allstate Arena to check in with WWE talent such as Bobby Lashley and The Miz, the latter of which Punk is said to have ‘cleared the air’ with last night. Interestingly, the straight edge star was also said to have mainly been there to speak with Paul Levesque and, following rumours of Punk going back to WWE late last year, many are speculating why Punk specifically went to talk with Levesque.
Now, on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer has noted what the feeling was like backstage in WWE with Punk present, stating that the company didn’t have any interest in Punk around the time of the return rumours late last year.
“The feeling in WWE was that he (CM Punk) was there because he wanted back. Whether that’s true or not, I have no idea.
Obviously there were talks of him going back, whatever it was, late last year. But he couldn’t go because he was still under contract.
And my impression is this was with Paul Levesque in charge and not Vince, and my impression was they didn’t have any interest in him at that time.”
– Dave Meltzer
Some believe Punk’s attendance of last night’s WWE Raw to be a publicity stunt with talks of an AEW return ongoing, though the exact reason behind his presence remains unknown.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any updates on CM Punk and information around his Raw backstage appearance as we hear more.
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