5 times WWE has teased CM Punk's potential return

Ever since CM Punk's shocking public release from AEW after All In at Wembley Stadium, speculation has been rife about his potential return to WWE. The Second City Saint left the latter company on bad terms in 2014, but time may have healed all wounds. He was even reportedly backstage for an episode of RAW in his home city of Chicago a few months before the events in London.

Punk's potential WWE return makes sense on multiple levels, with a number of potential dream matches and unrealized goals calling for one final run. Over the past few weeks, rumors of talks between the two sides have intensified, with Survivor Series in The Windy City cited as a potential venue for his blockbuster return.

The company itself seems to have caught on to the hype, appearing to tease his return with some subtle and other not-so-crafty references.

Here are five times WWE has seemingly teased a CM Punk return in recent weeks

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#5: Corey Graves closes out WWE Fastlane with an interesting soundbite

Corey Graves has been one of the main perpetrators of these teases, getting "caught" not once, but twice by eagle-eyed fans uttering quotes once used by CM Punk. His latest such "offence" came at the end of WWE Fastlane, when the SmackDown commentator referred to Seth Rollins as "riding on the edge of a lightning bolt".

Some fans immediately linked this to a recent Instagram story by the Voice Of The Voiceless celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his WrestleMania 29 battle against The Undertaker. Graves took to X to brush it off as a Dusty Rhodes quote, but many were convinced that he was just trying to throw fans off his trail.

Should Punk return in the near future, the WWE Universe will be vindicated for assuming this was a clue.

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#4: WWE RAW has had numerous references to CM Punk's "Best In The World" catchphrase in recent weeks

Now, let's start off with a disclaimer: many athletes within and outside the business call themselves the best in the world. However, only one (bar Chris Jericho) has made it a central part of his gimmick, even getting the phrase printed on his merchandise. That Superstar is none other than CM Punk.

So synonymous has he become with the phrase that every time it's uttered on WWE or AEW television, the Internet fanbase immediately registers it as a Punk reference. Triple H and his team must surely know this, which is why fans have found the recent upsurge in the use of the phrase on RAW suspicious. Could these utterances be teases of the Second City Saint's impending return?

The company retains plausible deniability on this one, but that's one of the main ingredients of a good tease, isn't it?

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#3: Michael Cole calls Seth Rollins a "puppet" on WWE RAW; fans think it's a nod to an old CM Punk promo

Some of CM Punk's best work was done in Ring Of Honor. The Straight Edge Superstar was a top star in the now Tony Khan-owned promotion before joining WWE in late 2005, having some of the greatest feuds and matches in its history. One of his most famous promos as ROH World champion saw him refer to the fans as his "puppets", claiming that he was playing with their emotions at will.

Fast forward to a Monday Night RAW segment between Seth Rollins and Michael Cole on the go-home episode before Fastlane 2023. The legendary commentator claimed Rollins was a "puppet" in his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, causing long-term Punk fans to speculate on whether this was a reference to the latter's infamous aforementioned promo.

This particular tease is rather obscure, but it's the kind that will have fans exclaiming "I KNEW IT" if Cult Of Personality blares through the speakers at Survivor Series.

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#2: The greatest trick the devil ever used was making people think he didn't exist" - Corey Graves, WWE SmackDown, 2023 and CM Punk, ROH, 2005

Corey Graves's second entry on this list was a famous line he used on the go-home SmackDown episode for WWE Fastlane. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" is a quote that has appeared in many forms of literature over the years. In pop culture, it famously featured in the 1995 movie "The Usual Suspects".

In the pro wrestling industry, CM Punk most famously used the line in a memorable promo whilst in ROH. This is why, considering the rumors swirling around, Graves's commentary line raised a number of eyebrows. Even when he took to X to claim that he was quoting the Bryan Singer picture, fans refused to believe that was all there was to it.

Only time will tell if this was indeed a cheeky nod to the six-time world champion or an innocent coincidence.

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#1: Shinsuke Nakamura performed CM Punk's GTS on WWE RAW

The post-Fastlane episode of WWE RAW was one of the most well-received in recent memory. Not only did it kick off a Seth Rollins-Drew McIntyre rivalry and feature an excellent Undisputed Tag Team Championship match, but it also gave us the most obvious CM Punk "tease" yet. Delivering a pre-match beatdown to Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura hit a rare GTS on The One and Only.

Nakamura's out-of-character move was not acknowledged by the commentary team. To the internet fanbase, though, it was the clearest indication yet of Punk's impending return. If Corey Graves fancies another go at "misdirecting" the internet detectives, he could always claim that Nakamura was paying tribute to compatriot KENTA fka Hideo Itami, who is the inventor of the move.

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Did you catch any of these CM Punk references on WWE Television? Was there a reference the WWE Universe ignored? Sound off in the comments section below.