ESPN’s Marc Raimondi flat out asked WWE President Nick Khan about CM Punk potentially returning to WWE now that he is no longer with AEW.
As you can expect, Khan danced around a straight yes or no answer.
“Listen, we only have respect for Phil. We appreciate his run here,” Khan told Raimondi. “We appreciate what he did and tried to do with the UFC. Not many people can actually get in there and do what he did. So, when we have respect for Phil, we wish him nothing but the best.”
Punk’s relationship with WWE was quite disastrous towards the end of his run there and he ended up receiving his termination papers on his wedding day.
In an interview with Steve Austin, then WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon apologized personally to Punk for the coincidence and never shut down the door on a return.
A few months ago, CM Punk showed up backstage at Raw in Rosemont and talked to a few people including Triple H. He was eventually told to leave the premises after Vince McMahon got wind that Punk was there. Punk was still under an AEW contract at the time.