WWE legend and Chief Content Officer Triple H shed some light on the process that led to CM Punk’s massive return to the company at Survivor Series.
Punk made a stunning comeback on Saturday night at Survivor Series, ending his nine-year WWE exile after a few years with the world’s second-largest wrestling promotion, AEW.
And Triple H admitted in his post-show press conference that the former five-time champion’s return came about very quickly.
“This was one of those lightning moments that came together really quickly, but we’re incredibly excited about it.” he said.
“It’s been a long time and in some ways it’s been a long time coming. You know, you can say this about CM Punk. Love him, hate him, positive, negative, whatever you want to say, people talk about him all the time.
CM Punk returned to WWE on Saturday night at the end of their Survivor Series show
Punk posed backstage with WWE legend and CCO Triple H, in H’s iconic pointing pose
‘He’s a magnet for that. He’s a conversation starter, and it’s hard to look past that.
“And as far as I’m concerned, if our fans want it, if the WWE Universe is excited about it, then let’s go. And we’ll figure out the rest from there.
‘This came together very quickly, and that’s why I’m sure it stayed very tight. There was a lot of speculation, but at that time there was only speculation…
“It only started to pay off when everyone stopped thinking it would happen, and then all of a sudden it happened.”
Punk controversially left WWE the night after the Royal Rumble in 2014, citing creative frustrations as well as anger over the lack of medical care he received at the time.
He recently ended a nine-year absence from professional wrestling in general when he joined WWE’s premier competition All Elite Wrestling, before being fired after causing multiple controversies during his short stint under Tony Khan.
He was last seen at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium, where he wrestled his final match for the promotion.
Punk was last seen wrestling at AEW’s All In Pay Per View before being fired from the company
His firing was met with months of speculation as to whether he would return to WWE or not, with many fans pointing to Survivor Series as the most likely time as the show took place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
Triple H further mentioned the bad blood that had flowed between Punk and WWE over the past decade when he said, “If you’re the same person you were ten years ago, you messed up ten years later.
‘Everyone grows, everyone changes. And I’m a different person, he’s a different person, this is a different company, and we’re all on an equal footing.”