More on Reaction to CM Punk’s WWE Return from WWE and AEW

Fightful Select has more details on the backstage reaction of both WWE and AEW to CM Punk returning to WWE at Survivor Series this past Saturday.

WWE talent are expecting to talk to officials in the company and get “assurances” about Punk and his role in the company in the future. Like AEW when Punk returned for Collision, the reaction backstage in WWE has been more muted than one might think. There have been people who say they don’t want to work with him and are considering leaving. Like AEW, however, there have been no reports of anyone actually requesting to leave over Punk. It was also noted that there were some top talent in WWE asking friends in AEW if Punk was involved in the devil storyline as recently as a month ago. It was previously noted that Punk was never considered for that.

As for Tony Khan, the word on Saturday is that he seemed more concerned with losing Katsuyori Shibata, who had to return to Japan, than Punk’s arrival in WWE.

The Punk appearance was kept secret in WWE, although Punk either told or hinted to close friends it was happening. WWE is currently using renders from Punk’s last run in the company, as well as the same Titantron video. A source at Peacock noted that the playlist of Punk content, which went up immediately after Survivor Series, took no time at all to put together.

Prior to Punk’s return, talent and staff were advised to ignore any Punk chants for Smackdown and Survivor Series.