CM Punk reveals the ONE person who convinced him to return to WWE after a nine-year absence… as he admits he also almost came back in 2019 before his AEW run

CM Punk has revealed the one person who played a key role in convincing him to return to WWE last year.

Punk became a free agent in September after having his contract terminated by AEW following a backstage confrontation with fellow wrestler Jack Perry.

But he was not away from the ring for long as he returned to WWE after a nine-year absence at Survivor Series in his hometown of Chicago in November.

Punk, also known as Phillip Brooks, has now explained how his WWE comeback came about, claiming it was WWE president Nick Khan who reached out to him first.

‘The action of it started the week of Thanksgiving. I’d have to look at a calendar to work out dates exactly,’ he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday night.

‘I got a call from Nick Khan and he was just like “hey, we want to talk to you”. And I was like “cool, on my way to the gym… [I’ve got] this coming up, you want to talk [on] Monday? Great”. 

‘So it was the week of Thanksgiving, Monday.’

Helwani appeared stunned by Punk’s admission, given that Survivor Series took place just two days after Thanksgiving, and just five days on from that initial phone call.

Punk admitted that he believed Khan’s original plan was to line him up for a return at a later date, but that quickly changed when he realised that Punk was ready to compete straight away. 

‘I think the call was more about “hey, we want to talk to you about coming back. We’d love you for Royal Rumble”, [on January 28], because they probably assumed I had a non-compete or something like that. 

‘And I was like “no man, I’m ready to go. Let’s do it, Saturday”.

Punk had a stint on ‘WWE Backstage’ in 2019, and also revealed he came close to re-joining the organisation then, but they could not get a deal over the line.

He went on to spend two years at AEW between 2021 and 2023, but is now back at WWE, despite currently being sidelined with a torn triceps injury that will prevent him from competing at WrestleMania this weekend.

Helwani asked if Khan was the ‘difference-maker’ in getting Punk back to WWE, to which Punk responded ‘I think so’.

He also acknowledged the involvement of WWE chief content officer Triple H in welcoming him back, explaining that the pair decided to put their past disagreements behind them to make things work. 

‘Every single minute of those days [before Survivor Series] it really ramped up,’ Punk said.

‘I spoke to him [Triple H], that’s when the ball really got rolling because I asked him if he would like to talk on the phone and he said “no, I would actually like to FaceTime you so I can see you”. And I was like “Oh, that’s interesting”. 

‘And we just talked about a whole lot of stuff, about stuff that was at one point quite serious to both of us that is silly now, and we just laughed, buried the hatchet, and then we started talking business. It all got done very fast.’