CM Punk opens up about suffering career-threatening injury; severity of it

CM Punk's WWE comeback was shockingly halted earlier this year due to injury. He has just revealed new details on the severity and what actually happened in the ring that night.

The Voice of the Voiceless returned to the WWE ring in December at non-televised live events, defeating Dominik Mysterio twice. Punk's televised in-ring return came at the Royal Rumble, but unfortunately, he suffered a torn triceps in the main event. Drew McIntyre and his Future Shock DDT were blamed.

Punk appeared on The MMA Hour today and opened up on what happened in the Rumble main event. The 45-year-old said this was the same triceps injury he suffered in AEW, but very painful, while the last didn't hurt at all. He confirmed that the injury did occur during the Men's Royal Rumble when asked by Ariel Helwani and revealed his mindset at that point.

"Yeah. It made me optimistic because I was, like, 'Oh, well certainly I didn't tear it off the bone like the other one. Maybe I just... I don't know,' Because, it hurt... I mean, it hurt. I knew immediately. I was just like, 'Oh, this isn't good,'" CM Punk said. [From -03:09:58 to -03:10:51]

Helwani then asked Punk if he remembered when the injury occurred and how far into the match this was. The #27 entrant confirmed that he was hurt early on in his performance, which went 21 minutes and 45 seconds until Cody Rhodes eliminated him for the win. The Chicagoan also made a joke about the concussion he suffered in the 2014 Royal Rumble.

"Oh yeah, yeah. 100%. I mean... not that far into it. I still had a bit to go, you know. You make split-second assessments, I think, in situations like that, you know, and I have famously been in Royal Rumbles before, where I, you know, probably should've been taken out of them. But this wasn't a concussion, and this was one of those things where I grab my arm, dig my finger right in there where my triceps is supposed to be, and there's just a big hole, and I just go, 'OK, alright. So, it's gone, it can't get any worse.' You just kinda... power through. That's a situation where I think it's acceptable to make the call as a wrestler. Like, most other times I just want everyone else to make the call," CM Punk said. [From -03:10:52 to -03:12:40]

Punk was rumored to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL. McIntyre vs. Rollins was booked after Punk's injury, and now The Best in the World will be doing guest commentary during the match.

Drew McIntyre blasts CM Punk ahead of WWE RAW

WWE will present the red brand's go-home build for WrestleMania XL as tonight's RAW airs live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NC.

The final RAW before WrestleMania 40 is rumored to feature another appearance by CM Punk. The injured 45-year-old is currently advertised for RAW, but not officially announced by WWE.

Drew McIntyre took to X today to taunt his rival. McIntyre put his own official WrestleMania hashtag emoji on display while using two disrespectful emojis to represent Punk.

"I have my own emoji, #DrewMcIntyre[X's Drew McIntyre emoji]. So does #CMPunk [clown emoji] [poop emoji]," he wrote about CM Punk.

McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship has been confirmed for WrestleMania 40, Night Two. CM Punk will do commentary at ringside.