On the anniversary of his return, WWE has posted a behind-the-scenes video covering CM Punk’s appearance at last year’s Survivor Series.
The nine-minute video sees cameras following Punk into the Gorilla position where he is surrounded by Paul Levesque, Bruce Prichard, Michael Hayes, William Regal, and others awaiting his walkout at the Allstate Arena after the WarGames match.
Also present was Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, who was seated next to her husband and was after her resignation in January 2023.
After Punk’s walkout, he was greeted by various talent and personalities backstage including Bayley, Kofi Kingston, Jamie Noble, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and most of the participants from the men’s WarGames match that had just concluded.
Later that week, it was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Drew McIntyre immediately left the building after the WarGames match and was not storyline-driven:
Drew McIntyre also walked out of the building immediately after the match. This was not a worked angle. He was very upset about something and while it was speculated it had to do with Punk, that is not certain. He cooled down later in the night and was back working the next night and even acknowledged the story being out in a promo. Whatever it was ended up not being a significant issue and he was said to be fine with how things were going and with his current story direction.
Punk returned to WWE after a decade away following his release in June 2014 after his walkout in January of that year. Punk would outline all his grievances later that year on The Art of Wrestling podcast with Colt Cabana which led to a lawsuit launched by Dr. Chris Amann. In June 2018, Punk and Cabana prevailed in court but the two had a major falling out during the several-year-long legal battle.
Punk worked for Fox in 2019 as a panelist on the ‘WWE Backstage’ program but didn’t work directly with WWE nor did it open a door for a return. His official return to the industry occurred in the summer of 2021 when he signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
After a backstage incident with Jack Perry at the All In event in August 2023, Punk was fired by AEW with the performer stating he received a phone call from Nick Khan in November asking when he was free and clear and Punk alerted him he had no restrictions.
