When CM Punk makes his return to WWE programming, he’ll likely be on a different brand than he was previously.
Punk dropped the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42 and has been away from WWE television since the Raw after that event. This week, there were unverified rumors going around about Punk’s absence and whether he and WWE were at odds. But, in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reiterates that he’s been told Punk’s absence is creative-related. The plan is for Punk to move to the SmackDown roster once he is back on TV.
Meltzer wrote:
There was a lot of talk about Punk rumors this past week. The Punk departure the week after he had said that he’s a guy who is there every week was strange, but we were told he was being taken off because they had no creative for him and would be back when his angle was to start. The plan right now is for him to return on Smackdown, which is basically a balancing act. The belief is with Raw having Reigns, Rollins, The Usos, Fatu, Femi, Logan Paul and Breakker that Punk made more sense on Smackdown with a top tier of Rhodes, Gunther, Ripley and soon to be Punk, Orton and McIntyre. Plus Rhodes vs. Punk has been a direction. The return date of 7/6 Raw in Chicago makes sense, although that is a Raw date, not Smackdown, but that’s really not material in the sense Chicago does make sense for him to appear.
Possible CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes program —
On the Raw after WrestleMania, WWE teased a program between Punk and Rhodes, who is the current Undisputed WWE Champion. Rhodes is feuding with Gunther and Sami Zayn at the moment and has a title defense against Gunther scheduled for the June 19 episode of SmackDown.
It would make sense for Punk to return at some point after Night of Champions on June 27. The next PLE after that is SummerSlam 2026 on August 1-2. WWE does have a Saturday Night’s Main Event special before that on July 18.
The complete new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available here for subscribers.
Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated’s wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.
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