Why CM Punk is The New X-FACTOR for WWE

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Brace yourselves, wrestling fans! CM Punk's triumphant return to the WWE has sent shockwaves through the entire wrestling community. But the burning question on everyone's mind is, "What's next for the 'Best in the World'?"  In this video, we dive deep into the speculation surrounding CM Punk's next move in the WWE. Could he be setting his sights on the ultimate prize, Seth Rollins' World Heavyweight Title? The wrestling world is buzzing with excitement and anticipation as Punk's comeback takes centre stage. How will it effect Mr. Money in the Bank Damian Priest.  Are you excited about CM Punk's return? Do you think he has what it takes to dethrone Seth Rollins and claim the World Heavyweight Title? Share your thoughts and predictions with us as we embark on this thrilling journey into the future of CM Punk's WWE comeback!  You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #CMPunk #SethRollins #WWERaw #WWE #Wrestling #Sportskeeda

Transcript

00:00 On the eve of Survivor Series War Games 2023, there was a lot of buzz and chatter with fans

00:05 only talking about one name who they wanted to see, CM Punk. It was reported earlier that WWE

00:12 intentionally announced Randy Orton's return after an injury that put him on the shelf for over a

00:17 year for Survivor Series so that it could ensure that fans wouldn't be expecting CM Punk to make

00:23 his long-anticipated WWE return. The speculation continued, but it's now known that it was only a

00:30 two-fold intention behind this. So CM Punk is back in WWE. It's truly shocking. Despite Randy Orton's

00:37 triumphant return to help Team Cody at War Games, all everyone was talking about was Punk, and for

00:43 a good reason. Now that the "best in the world" is back home, making that return in his hometown,

00:49 Iowa, is one of the loudest reactions I've ever heard as a wrestling fan. And after nearly 10

00:56 years, he is once again the most talked about man in all of pro wrestling. Yes, beyond WWE too.

01:04 It's time to explore what lies ahead for CM Punk. It's Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin,

01:10 get into the comments below and let us know what you think about CM Punk returning to WWE,

01:14 and maybe who you want to see him tangle with. It's pretty simple, there's only one story for CM

01:19 Punk upon his immediate return to WWE, and the wheels may have already been set in motion for

01:24 that. While the camera was focused on Punk, there's been some fan footage of what quickly

01:29 emerged during the fallout of his return. Since WWE had all of the contestants at the big men's

01:34 War Games match already in the ring and cage, except for Drew McIntyre, who quickly left the

01:39 area, and actually left the arena, the moment seemed to have been hijacked by one man who

01:45 wasn't happy about it. At least on everyone's cell phone, you could see it, and it was Seth

01:51 Freakin' Rollins, who was furious. The footage showed an infuriated Seth Rollins being held back

01:57 by WWE commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves, along with some backstage officials

02:02 and the WWE security team. Not only was Rollins trying to make his way towards Punk immediately,

02:07 he was showing who was number one in the business by flipping the bird at him,

02:12 while security and other people were just trying to calm everything down. We don't 100% know whether

02:17 or not Seth Rollins was in on this entire big reveal as it's been reported, but we certainly

02:22 saw him have a legitimate level of passion in his response. I think we can confirm that.

02:29 Seth Rollins is a true professional, through and through, and while there's no actual report to

02:34 confirm how much he knew and how he reacted in a certain way and whether or not it was scripted,

02:39 you gotta say that there's something in play here. In case you haven't figured it out yet,

02:44 Seth Rollins doesn't have a lot of love for CM Punk, and let's just say that we're being kind

02:50 in saying that. The issues between them are not new, and they actually go back quite a while.

02:55 CM Punk was a central key figure in Rollins making his WWE main roster debut once again

03:03 at Survivor Series in 2012 in Indianapolis, where the Shield trio of Rollins, Dean Ambrose,

03:09 and Roman Reigns hit the scene and helped then villainous CM Punk retain the WWE Championship

03:16 in the main event. Fast forward to 2019, I interviewed Seth Rollins for Q101 Radio in

03:23 Chicago prior to that year's Survivor Series, where this conflict once again arose due to a

03:29 social media back and forth between Rollins and Punk, with Rollins going so far as to call out

03:36 Punk to return to the ring for "the match." Yeah, and then Rollins said this.

03:43 "At the end of the day, if he wants to come on a show and run his mouth about me and about a

03:46 company that he has no part of for the last five years, then of course I'm going to stand up for

03:51 it. This is a place that has given me everything that I've ever wanted in my life. So if CM Punk

03:56 wants to talk all the smack in the world, I've invited him a million times to now come to my

04:02 ring, come to my domain on live television, where you can't hide behind anything, no desk in LA.

04:07 Come, let's do this thing, man. Let's fight. Let's fight it out like men."

04:11 "Bottom line is, wherever, whenever he wants to do the thing, if he wants to man up and do it,

04:16 I'm there. For me, the only place the match happens is WrestleMania, the main event, because

04:21 that's the only reason I'm picking a fight with him. I got no other interest in that. So if he's

04:27 interested, it's out there, man." Yeah, he gave us a big headline there.

04:33 Since then, CM Punk did return to wrestling, except not for WWE, but for their arch-nemesis

04:39 AEW, making headlines there while also dissing WWE along the way and getting into separate

04:46 backstage issues. CM Punk even returned for the formation of a new TV show, AEW Collision.

04:52 It was around this time that Nick Houseman of House of Wrestling interviewed Rollins

04:57 during Summerslam weekend and asked him about his opinion on the man named Phil Brooks,

05:02 CM Punk. And this is what he had to say. "Oh, Philly Phil, stay away. Stay away,

05:09 you cancer. Get away from me forever. I don't like Phil. I don't like Phil. He's a jerk.

05:15 Did we just figure that out? No. Everybody in the room is like, 'Oh, no, did he just say that?'

05:21 Yeah. No. He's a jerk. Come on. We figured it out over there. We knew it over here. I don't

05:28 want him back. Go do something else. See you later." In a separate interview not so long

05:33 after this one with Kavino and Rich of Fox Sports Radio, Rollins clarified his comments and cooled

05:39 down his stance on Punk just a bit. He essentially said that it pained him to say such negative

05:45 things about Punk because he had given his career so much. Rollins said that there is a place for

05:51 him in the wrestling business, but he's not a fan of the headspace that Punk has been in for the

05:56 last six or seven years. In all likeliness, he didn't take too kindly to the brawlout incident

06:03 that occurred over in AEW with Punk and how he handled things backstage. If it was intentional,

06:09 then you can be confident of the possibility of CM Punk vs Seth Rollins in a big match in the near

06:16 future. If you think about it, this is the best possible direction for Seth Rollins as well

06:23 come WrestleMania season. So he wants to make that money. Let's make that money.

06:28 We're yet to see how WWE handles Punk and how they're going to build up the feud

06:33 when there are two months of no premium live events until Royal Rumble 2023.

06:40 And you have the looming threat of Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion,

06:44 with Damian Priest and The Judgment Day looming around every corner with that money in the bank

06:49 briefcase that they could cash in on him. That is something that could maybe culminate on the way to

06:55 the 2024 Royal Rumble in January. Here, Rollins needs to win it back clean. And while Punk enters

07:03 the 2024 Royal Rumble, you can have virtually the entirety of December and January focused on

07:09 Damian Priest and The Judgment Day becoming a real threat to the World Heavyweight Champion in Rollins,

07:16 and maybe they even cash it in on him and he has to chase it back for a big rematch

07:20 at the 2024 Royal Rumble in January. Here, Rollins needs to win it back clean.

07:27 While Punk enters the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble and wins the whole thing. This lines Punk up for what

07:34 he wants, the main event of WrestleMania, something he never got to have in the past.

07:40 And maybe some of you out there are like, hey, what about Gunther or Cody?

07:45 We have a response for that. For Cody, it seems obvious that he's already locked in for the whole

07:50 chasing Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship again, and all you need is a number one contenders

07:56 match at Elimination Chamber to determine that. As for Gunther, the longest reigning

08:01 Intercontinental Champion, it might finally be time to start wrapping up that historic reign.

08:07 Is that something that's above CM Punk right now? That's debatable.

08:10 Also, Rollins is not the only member of the WWE locker room who appeared to be upset

08:15 with Punk's reintroduction. Randy Orton, who was injured for well over a year with a lower back

08:22 problem that nearly ended his career, made a truly triumphant return to the ring inside WarGames.

08:28 It's just clear that Punk is overshadowing him right now in the conversation, and the Viper

08:34 may be in those same shadows, ready for a revengeful form and an RKO that comes out of nowhere.

08:42 Yeah, maybe Orton didn't like his spotlight being stolen. Yeah, it's 2011's most underrated feud

08:49 replayed for today. Let's not forget the former WWE NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura,

08:55 who on WWE television has recently been instituting Punk's GTS finisher now and then,

09:01 while also menacingly calling out some unnamed rival. Is the name of that rival CM Punk? Is

09:08 Nakamura the appetizer for Punk before he gets on the road to WrestleMania?

09:13 As for the World Heavyweight Title, we'll see CM Punk win his first ever Royal Rumble,

09:17 that's just our prediction, and then he'll lock down that WrestleMania 40 Night 1 or Night 2

09:22 scenario. If Cody vs Roman is headlining one of the nights of WrestleMania, maybe Punk and Rollins

09:27 get to have that other night. This could also fulfill the dreams of Rollins to have that

09:32 headline magic at Mania, something that he hasn't had, and something, once again, that Punk also

09:38 wants. If you're thinking of WrestleMania 31 when he cashed in Money in the Bank, that hardly counts,

09:43 right? And there you have it, a simple and effective buildup to the biggest possible

09:47 match CM Punk can have outside of Roman Reigns in just a few months after his return. Speaking of

09:53 CM Punk vs Roman Reigns, you can check out our fantasy booking video on how Punk vs Roman

09:59 could go down. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

10:03 [outro music]

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