What happened in CM Punk's last WWE match at Royal Rumble 10 years ago?

On the latest edition of RAW, CM Punk officially signed with the red brand. While this development was enough to cause excitement among the WWE Universe, fans were delighted when Seth Rollins made his way to the ring and confronted the Best in the World.

After a brief segment between the two, Punk officially declared himself for the Royal Rumble. Set to take place on January 27, 2024, he will return to the Rumble for the first time in nearly 10 years. The last Rumble CM Punk competed in was in 2014.

During the 2014 edition of Royal Rumble, the 45-year-old performed well. However, toward the end of the match, Kane eliminated Punk, who had already eliminated himself. The Big Red Machine also chokeslammed Punk through the announce table.

Eventually, Batista won the 2014 Royal Rumble, while Punk had a fallout with WWE and left the promotion. Hence, fans will be excited to see how he performs when he returns to one of the most awaited matches next year.

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WWE legend believes AEW's future might not be good after CM Punk signed with the Stamford-based promotion

After CM Punk's fallout with AEW, many believed the 45-year-old would not return to wrestling. However, he surprised fans when he signed with WWE and returned to the Stamford-based promotion at Survivor Series: WarGames. While this move was massive for WWE, losing Punk would be a big blow for AEW.

Recently, WWE Legend Kevin Nash pointed out the same. During an episode of his Kliq This Podcast, Nash spoke about the impact of top superstars switching promotions. He said:

"[Chris] Jericho was the first major star to sign with AEW," Nash said. "He said actually they have far [exceeded their initial expectations] at this point."

Furthermore, Nash mentioned that while AEW acted well as an alternative to WWE, the Stamford-based promotion is now back. The superstar mentioned that losing Punk and Jade Cargill won't do any good. He said:

"[WWE is] back on bedrock again," Nash continued. "The shows are really solid, but you look at it for five years, and there were some points where [AEW] made some runs... By losing Jade and losing [CM Punk], it's not gonna [be good]."

CM Punk's return has helped WWE in terms of viewership and social media engagement. However, it will be interesting to see how it affects AEW in the coming weeks.