CM Punk went from being one of WWE's top guys to being a mega star overnight after he delivered his groundbreaking "pipe bomb" promo in June of 2011. This kicked off one of WWE's hottest storylines ever, as Punk managed to defeat John Cena at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view that year in front of a sold-out crowd in Chicago, taking the WWE Championship hostage as his contract expired and he left the company.
This storyline helped catapult Punk to the absolute upper echelons of WWE superstardom, though he would leave the company a few years later. In January of 2014, CM Punk left WWE for a variety of reasons, including frustration over the company's creative direction and concerns about his health. It was around this time that Punk said he was "never" going to return to WWE, and he started focusing his efforts on other ventures, like UFC and movie projects.
While Punk was involved with WWE's Backstage program on Fox, he has otherwise been mostly absent from the professional wrestling business since he left WWE in 2014. However, it seems that could change soon, as Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp, known for his accurate leaks and scoops on pro wrestling, says that CM Punk is in talks to make his big return to pro wrestling.
According to the report, CM Punk is in active talks to return to pro wrestling, with WWE official believing that Punk will sign with rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It's unclear if a return to WWE is completely off the table or not, but it the general consensus seems to be that Punk is most likely going to end up appearing in AEW. With Punk's star power, this would be absolutely huge for AEW and could go a long way in helping the company gain some ground in its competition with WWE.
AEW has already had some notable victories over WWE, with its weekly show AEW Dynamite regularly trouncing NXT in the Wednesday night television ratings. NXT eventually left its Wednesday night time slot entirely and now airs on Tuesdays. If AEW managed to sign CM Punk to its roster, it would arguably be the biggest blow against WWE yet and may very well be enough to get even more WWE faithful to turn the channel to AEW.
CM Punk joining the AEW roster would not only get more people to tune in to AEW's weekly programming, but it would also potentially drive sales for AEW's merchandise and video game projects. A console AEW video game is in active development, and one has to imagine getting CM Punk on the cover would be huge.
Of course, fans should keep their expectations in check. Rumors about CM Punk returning to pro wrestling have popped up multiple times over the years, only for nothing to come of them. However, Sean Ross Sapp reporting on it does make it seem significantly more legitimate than past rumors about a potential CM Punk return.
Source: Wrestling Inc