CM Punk returns to WWE: 9 dream matches
After nine long years, podcasts, lawsuits, two explosive (in every sense) runs with AEW, the unthinkable has happened: CM Punk has returned to the WWE.
The good guys, including a returning Randy Orton, were in the ring soaking up the applause after a hard-won War Games victory against The Judgment Day (+ Drew McIntyre), when Living Color's 'Cult of Personality' hit and the Titantron lit up with CM Punk's logo.
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Then the man himself emerged and took in the moment before pounding the ground to let us all know it was finally clobberin' time in the WWE once more.
He was welcomed by the hometown crowd as a hero and the pop could have possibly ripped the roof off the Allstate Arena.
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On screen at least, we didn't get any indication as to who CM Punk will be sparring with on his return, though there were some off-camera hints of his immediate direction.
Some dream matches can't happen for various reasons - a Punk vs Triple H match would have been something to behold had Trips not retired, for example.
But there's still plenty of incredible match-ups that could happen. Below, we round up the eight most likely and most desirable match-ups for the Second City Saint on his return.
Seth Rollins
You've probably seen it already, but Seth 'Freakin' Rollins didn't seem anywhere near as pleased as the fans by CM Punk's shock entrance.
In fact, fan footage shows him not only shouting obscenities in Punk's direction, he gave him BOTH middle fingers and had to be held back by the power duo of Corey Graves and er... Michael Cole.
Seth hasn't been shy about his feelings regarding Punk in recent months (a "cancer") and frankly from that point this thing books itself - and that's before we even mention their past together when Rollins was still in The Shield.
CM Punk vs Seth Rollins, in the main event of (ahem) Night 1 of WrestleMania 40. Bad blood, brilliant wrestling.
Some of the greatest feuds in wrestling history have that undercurrent of real animosity behind them, and this could match the very best.
Drew McIntyre
Talking of real-life bad vibes, it's been widely reported that Seth Rollins wasn't the only one miffed at the end of Survivor Series.
We all saw Drew stomping off to the dressing room as soon as his team lost, with him failing to get his revenge on Jey Uso.
But he also apparently stormed from the dressing room right out the arena when CM Punk made his bow.
Was he still annoyed by losing out during the match, or did the prospect of CM Punk coming between him and the goal of winning the big one in front a live audience push him?
Drew McIntyre was released by the WWE just months after CM Punk walked out of the company in 2014.
It's hard to imagine a more differing path for both men back to this point in the company, isn't it?
They feel like chalk and cheese, and sometimes these sorts of opposites can make for the very best ring partners.
Cody Rhodes
Before Punk's return, Cody Rhodes's comeback was arguably the most important and intriguing in the WWE's recent history.
Cody is yet to "finish the story", and now the spotlight and possibly also the momentum has been yoinked from him.
What's more, the man doing the yoinking is his short-lived AEW colleague, who had a massive, public falling out with his still-pals and still-EVPs over there.
There's no immediate reason for these two to go at it, but if CM Punk starts jumping the queue to a world title match before Rhodes gets another shot, you can be sure that Cody will have something to say about that.
And it's worth highlighting that each man has finished each other's story... while Cody has never been WWE Champion, Punk has never headlined WrestleMania.
Plenty of possibilities to play around with this one.
Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke has had his ups and downs in the WWE, it's fair to say, but when it comes to pure wrestling ability there are few that can touch him.
There's an argument that he's never really reached the peaks he managed in his stellar NXT run ever since he reached the main roster, but maybe he just needs the right match to put the cherry on the icing on the cake of what's been an amazing career.
But Shinsuke hinted at a possible match-up with CM Punk even before he came back, dropping Ricochet with Punk's Go To Sleep finisher borrowed from KENTA/Hideo Itami.
Sure, it's hard not to think about the damp squib that was his "dream match" with AJ Styles way back when, but with Punk's character work we can see this one being something very special indeed.
Kane
Sure, Kane is i) 56, ii) as good as retired, iii) busy being the real-life Mayor of Knox County as Glenn Jacobs.
But it was Kane who UNFAIRLY dumped Punk out the 2014 Royal Rumble after he himself had been eliminated, and frankly CM Punk deserves a shot at revenge.
Would it be classic? No. Would it be good? Probably not. Would it even be passable? Look, we agree that it almost certainly wouldn't.
But it's otherwise a loose hanging thread that needs to be tied up.
The Rock
For a long while yet there's been talk of The Rock making a return to the WWE and going head to head with his cousin Roman Reigns.
But for what? Sure they could talk over that whole 2015 Royal Rumble moment, but in truth we feel that's been long overtaken by events.
Reigns certainly doesn't need a "rub" or "passing of the torch moment" at this stage in his career – not even from The Rock.
But for all the diminishing returns, The Rock deserves a final run and proper retirement.
Still though, where's the value in a 51-year-old part-time Rocky sparring with kids?
Matches with guys a little closer to his age – think LA Knight and, say, CM Punk – hold just the right amount of intrigue to make things very interesting on The Rock's last ride.
Gunther
We've put our weight behind umpteen people in the mistaken belief that they would dethrone Gunther, who has been WWE Intercontinental Champion for 235,358,732,235,523 days.
Perhaps there was just no-one in the WWE who was capable of beating the guy, so they've had to look outside the company to break his iron grip on that title.
CM Punk has already held the strap once, in another lifetime, and he'd relish the chance to cement his second and surely final WWE run with a taste of serious gold.
More to the point, their clash of styles would be an absolutely fascinating one, with Punk's veteran charisma a perfect foil for the pure power of Gunther.
Roman Reigns
Speaking of long title reigns, we were going to have to go here, weren't we?
Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes and LA Knight have all been half a count away from taking away Roman Reigns's belt.
Each will also have reasons to feel hard done by having not finished off the job.
Cody Rhodes especially has been clear that he has no intention of giving up, but maybe it's Reigns's ex-associate who is the man to do it.
It's been widely reported that CM Punk didn't want Roman Reigns in The Shield at all (he apparently wanted Chris Hero).
We're pretty sure that The Head of the Table hasn't forgotten that slight, either.
And if CM Punk were able to win a hotly contested Royal Rumble match this January, he could punch his ticket for the one thing he always wanted in the WWE and never achieved during that first run: the real main event of WrestleMania.
John Cena
We're not actually sure how much value there'd be in this story-wise, though John could contrast his own hustle, loyalty and respect with Punk's... lack of the above.
But in truth, it'd just be great to see how these two veterans would match up in the ring.
Both have lost more than a step of pace since their heyday. Both have the skill and ability to shake off all the rust and put on a clinic if the mood takes them.
Other contenders...
Kevin Owens
Apparently they have real-life heat going back to their Indy days.
LA Knight
Look, it'd just be fun.
Sami Zayn
They don't have much in the way of history with each other, but Sami has proved himself to be one of the greatest characters in modern WWE history. We'd love to see the promos.
Who would you like to see CM Punk face in the WWE? Let us know at @digitalspywwe.
Catch up on Raw, Smackdown, NXT and all the big WWE action via the WWE Network or TNT Sports.
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