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CM Punk's return to WWE has been one of the most talked-about stories in wrestling over the last month. In a recent podcast episode, Matt Hardy named his former co-worker's WWE comeback as the wrestling industry's Extreme Moment of the Year.
Punk surprisingly appeared at Survivor Series: WarGames in his hometown of Chicago on November 25. Two months earlier, The Best in the World was released from AEW following a backstage altercation with Jack Perry.
On The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy said Punk's WWE return was the clear winner of the Extreme Moment year-end award:
"I think head and shoulders above everything else when it comes to the Extreme Moment of 2023 is the CM Punk return to WWE at the end of Survivor Series. Because, as you [host Jon Alba] said, that is a surprise that no one knew was going down. There had been so much speculation that it may happen, it may not happen, it's never gonna happen, whatever, and then it does happen." [33:36 – 33:58]
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Punk famously walked out of WWE in 2014. It looked as though he would never return to the company, partly due to his strained relationship with WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H.
Matt Hardy explains why CM Punk's WWE return was so special
Unbeknownst to fans, CM Punk made amends with Triple H shortly before his Survivor Series: WarGames appearance.
Matt Hardy gave credit to Triple H for keeping the show-closing moment a surprise leading up to the event:
"It legitimately surprised people, and when you legitimately surprise people and shock people and you leave them with their mouths open, like that CM Punk moment did, especially [because] people never thought Punk would be back again, but it happened. So, kudos to Triple H for pulling that off because that was one hell of an extreme moment." [33:59 – 34:17]
Hardy also gave his thoughts on which superstar is most likely to dethrone Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40.
What do you think was the Extreme Moment of 2023? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
