CM Punk opens up on what led to his WWE return
After spending a decade away from WWE, CM Punk made his long-awaited return at Survivor Series 2023.
Following creative differences with WWE’s management in 2014, fans saw CM Punk walk out of the promotion before making his triumphant return in 2023. Recently speaking to All The Smoke: Unplugged, Punk revealed reaching out to Triple H following his heart issue and how it ultimately led to his WWE comeback.
“My favourite thing is when Triple H isn’t at Raw, and it’s not because ‘oh the boss is away’ or anything like that. I know he’s at a daddy/daughter dance, I know he’s at his daughter’s football game, and it makes me feel it’s wholesome, because we’ve had the conversations, it’s how we got to the point where I was asked ‘Hey what does it look like? Can we get you to come back?’
“It was because after a while I reached out to Triple H and I knew he had this heart condition thing, and I had seen a clip of [Hulk] Hogan and the [Ultimate] Warrior, and everything we do is filmed, what’s real, what’s not, and it’s Hogan, so you don’t know what’s the truth, but they’re having this conversation and kind of apologising and forgiving each other, then a couple of days later the Ultimate Warrior dies,” Punk added.
Wanting to mend the bridge and believing it to be not worth the time, Punk made his way back into WWE. “It just made me realise this s**t ain’t worth it, and I don’t care, and I get a call from Nick [Khan] like ‘hey, we want you to come back’. Oh. Interesting. What does that look like? Is the place different? It’s so wildly different, and if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
Triple H went on a hiatus from WWE in 2021 after suffering a cardiac issue, which ultimately led to his in-ring retirement. Shortly after that, Vince McMahon stepped down from his position of power, and Triple H ended up taking over WWE’s creative department in 2022. A year later, in 2023, Punk was back in WWE.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.