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CM Punk's WWE comeback changed the landscape of the Stamford-based promotion, his rapturous return compares even with the likes of The Rock. It should be noted that both men came back this year after spending a significant amount of time away. As numbers don't lie, it'll be interesting to figure out which comeback excited fans most.
The Rock and CM Punk are just two superstars who returned to WWE this year. The latter returned at the end of the Survivor Series 2023 event and is now part of the WWE RAW roster, but has yet to wrestle on-screen. The former returned on SmackDown after three years away. He returned with Pat McAfee, and cut an entertaining promo with Austin Theory. Although both returns were electrifying, one reigned supreme.
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CM Punk's return proved to be the bigger draw against The Rock in terms of YouTube views. Dwayne Johnson's return to SmackDown on September 15, 2023, garnered 7.1 million views. On the other hand, the Straight Edge star's return at Survivor Series has already accumulated 7.2 million views so far.
Corey Graves deleted his Tweet! More details HERE.
Comparing videos on a single platform is only a small sample, but the former AEW star got the best out of his former opponent in other areas. It was shared in the last week of November that Punk's comeback reached 71 million views across all social media platforms. This statistic meant that it was the biggest social post in company history.
What other record did CM Punk break on a previous WWE RAW episode?
The Straight Edge star's return to the company garnered mixed reactions. However, the staggering numbers for his appearances continuously prove it was best for business.
The December 11, 2023, episode of WWE RAW saw Punk officially announce he will join the roster. However, his celebration was ruined by Seth Rollins. The Visionary disrespected the star and called him out for his past issues.
As per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, the CM Punk-Seth Rollins segment received the highest quarter-to-quarter viewership growth for a segment on the brand since early 2022. The confrontation segment saw a roughly 25% increase with 1.88 million viewers.
"The in-ring promo with CM Punk and Seth Rollins was by far the most-watched quarter-hour of last night's Raw. 1.88M viewers, 0.62 P18-49 rating on a show that averaged 1.47M, 0.46. It had the advantage of being the only quarter-hour with no ad breaks, but it had stronger quarter-to-quarter growth (+25%) than any Raw quarter-hour since at least early 2022 which includes many ad-free quarters in non-ad-free hours/shows,"
Who will be CM Punk's first opponent in WWE?
The Chicago star is set for a WWE in-ring return against Dominik Mysterio as part of the company's Holiday Tour. They will face on December 26 at Madison Square Garden, then again in California on the 30th.
It would be interesting to see what will happen with the Straight Edge star's WWE run the second time around.
