The situation took place seven months prior to Punk’s WWE return.
Two months prior to the launch of AEW Collision on TNT where CM Punk made his return to the company, photos and videos circulated on social media of Punk outside of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois where Monday Night Raw was taking place.
At the time, it had been reported by PWInsider that Punk arrived to the venue and was brought in by other talents. Among those he ran into were Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and The Miz before ultimately having to leave.
Mace and Mansoor were backstage when that occurred and they spoke about it on episode #144 of the Café De René livestream. Mace confirmed that Punk was chatting with Miz while visiting.
Mansoor: We were there when he came back for the first time… When he came back unannounced backstage. We were in Chicago and Mace comes up to the locker room and says, ‘Manny’ and I’m like, ‘What?’ And he says, ‘CM Punk’s downstairs.’ Like, ‘What!?’
Mace: He’s talking to The Miz.
Mansoor: This is when he was contracted with AEW so we were all like, ‘What the f*ck is going on? Like, what is happening?’ I figure that was him planting the seeds in a way, so I’m not super surprised (he’s back).
While mentioning Monday Night Raw, Mace dove into his time as a commentator for the brand. He recounted a situation when himself, Vic Joseph and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler were having fun calling the show. Vince McMahon then alerted them that they’re having too much fun and they’re not at that point yet to be doing what they were doing on commentary.
Mace: Me, Vic (Joseph) and King, it was like a really fun episode of Raw and at that time, I think it was 2019, those were few and far between. It was a really fun episode of Raw and we’re having a blast. We’re cracking jokes, the chemistry is on point. I hear (Michael) Cole in my head. He’s like, ‘Oh, you guys are killing it right now. You guys are doing great’ and then I hear Vince (McMahon) in the back of my ear, ‘You guys are having too much fun. You’re not there yet’ and then I’m like, alright and it’s another time where you’re just like — because you have to talk for three hours, so as soon as you’re in your own head about what do I say? What do I say? Then all of a sudden, you’re stumbling over yourself and you don’t know what to do. So, that was one of two times where I was just like, alright, I’m just gonna ease back into the chair and kind of let King, who’s been doing this for 50 years, carry the load because I don’t know what to say.
Punk showing up at Raw in April 2023 was seven months prior to his return to the company at Survivor Series that November. He made his in-ring return during WWE’s holiday house show tour and next up on the docket for Punk is the 2024 men’s Royal Rumble match.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Café De René with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
