When a former WWE Champion declared they would "never ever" return to wrestling

Many major names have crossed through WWE and naturally ended their careers in the promotion. Back in 2014, CM Punk notably proclaimed that he was done with pro wrestling, but as all up-to-date fans know, The Straight Edge star had his most recent match in September 2022.

Despite having quite several issues with WWE that were largely reported on, many fans still held on to the belief that he would eventually return. And just as Punk reached the seventh year of his hiatus, he shocked the pro wrestling world by returning at AEW Rampage First Dance in August 2021.

During a brief interview with Chris Van Vliet on the red carpet of the AP Music Awards in 2014, CM Punk seemed to jokingly claim that he'd never be returning to pro wrestling again.

“No, no. No. Never ever! Never, ever, ever! They’re gonna go crazy about that on Twitter, and they’re gonna like hold me to it and they’re gonna – yeah, whatever," said Punk. [From 01:37 onward]

Unfortunately, today it seems like his pro wrestling future is in jeopardy yet again, but could he shock the world again and return to WWE? Many fans now believe that he could instead be on his way back to AEW, but until then, everyone will simply have to wait in bated breath.

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WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry has seemingly confirmed CM Punk's AEW status

CM Punk's success in WWE led many fans to hope for a similar run in AEW. Unfortunately, the star ended up in the Brawl Out Incident, where he quickly went from the face of the promotion to being called a cancer online.

Regardless, things seem to be moving towards a return, but is he even still signed to AEW?

During an episode of Busted Open Radio, Henry speculated that CM Punk seems to be enjoying his social media posts' reaction and that he's still signed to AEW.

"Punk has posted things and if you didn’t love it? You wouldn’t post. You wouldn’t have interactions on social media at all, you’d just let it go. Also, he has not been released from his contract," said Henry. [30:50 onward]

While it might have appeared that he was done with AEW and pro wrestling yet again, with every week that passes, it seems like the Summer of CM Punk in AEW might not be over at all.