CM Punk’s had a rough week: in between trying to make weight for his second UFC fight this Saturday, he had to take the stand to defend himself against WWE doctor Chris Amann’s defamation lawsuit — the timing of which is curious: when asked by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani in their yearly sit-down interview if the timing was intentional, Punk said, "It’s an easy thing to speculate and say yes to. If you know [WWE] and if you’ve worked there, it makes a lot of sense. But I don’t know."
Either way, Punk won the case unanimously and is finally able to close the door on a chapter of his life he’d rather forget and look forward to his next MMA fight at UFC 225 against Mike Jackson, a fighter who is also 0-1 professionally with one loss against Mickey Gall. But for many of his fans, outside of the spectacle of seeing "Cult of Personality" hit in Chicago’s United Center and seeing the Second City Saint make his way down the aisle seeking redemption, the more salient question is one Punk will likely never be able to escape: “will you ever make a return to pro wrestling?”
It’s obviously a question Punk gets a lot, and the answer is usually a cut-and-dry "no," but this time, his response was more nuanced. "Nobody has ever asked me — like, straight-up asked me — to come wrestle for them. Nobody. There’s been, ‘hey, if you ever wanted to do anything…’ … Nobody’s ever been like, ‘hey, here’s the deal, we’re having a show, we’re gonna pay you X amount, you’re working this guy, what do you say?" When asked to clarify and if that meant Punk would be open to doing a show, whether it’s an All In-type event or somewhere else, Punk said, "I don’t think so, but it’s a hard question to answer. A lot’s happened this week. If you asked me that question a week ago when I felt like I still had a foot in the grave so to speak, the answer’s no. [But now] I feel like I’m out, and the future’s yet to be written. … I’m not gonna sit here and be like ‘no.’ Something might come up. Some fun might be had."
While seeing CM Punk back in a WWE ring any time soon would be a shock after such an acrimonious split and bitter lawsuit, seeing a retired-from-MMA Punk make some one-off appearances on shows like All In or for indie promotions where his friends work is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. As much as Punk tries to act like money doesn’t mean anything to him, it’s clearly a big motivator — earlier on in the Helwani interview, Punk referred to his bank account as his "life’s work." So it sounds like CM Punk would lace up those boots one more time — for the right price.
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