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The wait is over. The Voice of the Voiceless, CM Punk, has made his return to WWE TV, and given all the hype and speculation surrounding his appearance on WWE Backstage this week, the former WWE Champion did not disappoint in his first full outing on the show.
During the broadcast, Punk sat down with Renee Young and dished on why he decided to return to WWE TV on Backstage, what he thinks of the current state of the WWE product. He also graded David Arquette an F- in the promo class segment, and he managed to sneak in a curse word in the closing moments of the show.
Given the above, let's take a look at 5 key takeaways from CM Punk on this week's episode of WWE Backstage.
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#5 CM Punk is not on WWE Backstage to placate the current TV product
CM Punk began his appearance on WWE Backstage this week by sitting down for a brief one-on-one interview with Renee Young.
During the interview, Punk discussed what brought him back to WWE TV and specifically Backstage, and he revealed that the thought of doing a commentary-style show in which he is able to speak openly and honestly was an intriguing idea.
Punk spent the rest of the episode speaking from the heart, and had no problem pointing out creative ideas he thought have been "bad", including the most recent angle with Roman Reigns being portrayed by a person in a dog costume.
Punk's thoughts on the creative direction of WWE, and his take on WWE as a whole, helped illustrate the fact that he is not on WWE Backstage to placate the current TV product, but rather to speak openly and honestly about the content being produced by WWE on a weekly basis.
#4 CM Punk has high hopes for Rey Mysterio vs Brock Lesnar
WWE fans might be ecstatic to see CM Punk back on WWE TV, but higher-ups in the company and members of the Creative team might be slightly perturbed after Punk's first full appearance on the show.
During the one hour broadcast, CM Punk had few positive things to say about the current WWE product, and was quick to call the recent Roman Reigns "dog" segment on SmackDown an instance of bad creative.
On a lighter note, however, CM Punk certainly does seem excited about Rey Mysterio vs Brock Lesnar set to take place at WWE Survivor Series this weekend. While other WWE Backstage hosts spoke about the match from a storyline standpoint, Punk talked about the potential Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio have to tell a great story at the PPV on Sunday.
Punk noted that a "motivated Brock Lesnar" could have a great match with Rey Mysterio, and he thinks the two are going to put on a good show at Survivor Series this weekend. The potential for Lesnar vs Mysterio was about the only positive thing Punk had to say about the product during WWE Backstage.
#3 CM Punk's response to Seth Rollins spoke volumes about Punk's in-ring status
One of the leading questions heading into CM Punk's appearance on WWE Backstage this week was whether or not Punk would address a possible return to the ring.
Renee Young kicked off the interview segment with Punk by asking him if fans could expect to see him back in a WWE ring, and while Punk did not outright say he would never return as an in-ring performer, he certainly made it clear that he has no current intentions of wrestling.
Later in the show, WWE hyped the comments recently made by Seth Rollins on Twitter, during which Rollins challenged Punk to "fight him" in a WWE ring. The hype from WWE was clearly done to continue stirring the pot regarding a possible in-ring return for Punk, but Punk did not take WWE's bait.
When asked to respond to Seth Rollins' comments, instead of cutting some type of promo on Rollins, or leaving the possibility open for a possible match down the line, Punk simply told Rollins to get off Twitter, and to stop tweeting altogether. Punk's response made it pretty clear that he has no intention of teasing possible future matches in WWE, and said a lot about his current feelings on an in-ring return.
#2 CM Punk has had no interaction with WWE executives since returning to WWE TV
While CM Punk neither confirmed nor denied that he will ever return to the ring in WWE, one thing is for sure, discussions about a potential in-ring return have not happened.
During the opening segment of WWE Backstage this week, Punk revealed that he is indeed an employee of FOX, and is not signed with WWE. Punk added that he has yet to speak with anyone from the WWE camp since he returned on Backstage, and has only spoken to FOX executives throughout the process of being hired for Backstage.
As the show progressed this week, it became pretty clear that Punk was initially attracted to the WWE Backstage gig as it keeps him away from working with the people in WWE with whom he had major problems during his first run with the company. Punk seemed genuinely at home on the show this week, and genuinely enjoying the ability to work on a program which reflects on the WWE product as opposed to beating himself up in the ring, and dealing with the bureaucracy and politics that comes with being a WWE performer.
#1 CM Punk is already putting his colleagues in very sticky situations
The dynamic between CM Punk and the rest of the WWE Backstage show hosts and guests is going to be interesting going forward, and that was immediately clear on this week's episode of the show.
In addition to CM Punk, Renee Young, Paige, Booker T, and Ember Moon appeared on the show as hosts and guests on this week's WWE Backstage, and CM Punk is certainly in a class of his own as it pertains to the personalities on the show.
While Renee Young, Booker T, Paige, and other hosts and guests like Christian and Ember Moon, are at times critical of the WWE product, they are more often than not reacting to WWE storylines with a certain joviality and fan-like intrigue. The same cannot be said of CM Punk. One of the first things Punk admitted on the show this week is that much of the WWE product is the same as it was when he left the company, and he noted a couple of examples of recent "bad creative."
It's obvious that CM Punk was brought onto the WWE Backstage show to "shoot", and he will likely face little to no repercussions for expressing his candid thoughts on the WWE product, especially because he does not work for WWE. But considering the other show hosts and guests are not CM Punk, and work for WWE and not FOX, it will be interesting to see how they react going forward if and when Punk buries the WWE product.
