CM Punk has been the talk of the wrestling world for years, whether it be his dramatic exit from WWE a decade ago, what would come after his brief MMA stint or his controversial exit from All Elite Wrestling, a pattern which seems to follow Punk through his ring career.
After making his return and competing in the Royal Rumble, an injury saw him denied his WrestleMania moment. His injury led to some genius storytelling from the company, which turned it into a feud with former world champion Drew McIntyre, who took to social media to mock his injury, leading to one of the most bitter feuds we have seen in this new era.
CM Punk/Drew McIntyre feud got the perfect ending it deserved
After multiple PLE matches between Punk and McIntyre, the two stepped inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood, a match type which is not for the faint of heart as you could imagine. The battle saw both men come out bloodied and battered from their encounter, with Punk coming out the better of the two. This feud had already boiled over past the breaking point for the pair and became personal multiple times, examples of this being the frequent mention of Punk’s wife, AJ Lee, and the Scot stealing a bracelet with his dog’s name on it.
With the score now 2-1 in Punk’s favour, it seems time to move on from this feud and look to the future for both men. The Scot can continue his work as a heel, showing his value in the role in this feud, and one option could be taking his frustrations out on a fan favourite, Jey Uso, for the Intercontinental championship. At the same time, his rival can shift his focus to what he returned to do, becoming world champion once again.
Former NXT champion to make his main roster debut on Raw?
With their brutal match settling the score, it would be safe to assume we will hear from the victor on Monday night. As is always the case, we know it is never the only person we hear from and can almost be certain any promo that Punk cuts will be interrupted by someone looking to make a name for themself.
McIntyre was not the only person irked by his return, but Punk added to his list of enemies during his return stint. While in his hometown of Chicago, the current Raw star interjected himself into an NXT Championship match as the guest referee. His list seems to have grown this past week, as a confrontation with Ethan Page saw the title change hands, usually indicating a main roster call-up when that title changes hands.
Losing his title will only have infuriated Page, and Raw could see the former champion arrive on the main roster dead set on revenge and spoiling Punk’s victory parade.
Could CM Punk be dragged into Seth Rollins’ nightmare?
Ethan Page may not be the only man Punk has to worry about. Another name he had got on the wrong side of ever since his return was Seth Rollins. The Visionary was visibly furious at the arrival and has exchanged words plenty of times with him. However, the two appear to have set their differences aside to some degree when Rollins was the guest referee at Summerslam.
The former world heavyweight champion returned on Raw last week, setting out for revenge immediately by targeting Bronson Reed. He delivered a curb stomp on the steel steps to the Australian who had put him on the injury list with multiple Tsunamis from the top rope.
Earlier this year, Reed was due to compete in a title match at Elimination Chamber before Rollins’ injury, and that could add a personal touch to this feud. One thing for certain is that Reed has been a handful on Adam Pearce’s Raw, causing vast chaos, meaning Rollins may be unable to take the Australian on alone. Could we see Reed be the man to ruin Punk’s victory parade or his former rival turn to him for help taking down the monster Braun Strowman has struggled to stop?