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CM Punk captured the attention of the wrestling world when he returned to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, is unsure whether the timing of the return made sense from a storyline perspective.
Punk's first WWE appearance in almost a decade took place in his hometown of Chicago. A video of the crowd-popping moment garnered more than 71 million views across WWE's social platforms in 24 hours, setting a new record.
Russo was known for prioritizing compelling storyline developments over individual moments during his days as a writer. On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo, he asked Dr. Chris Featherstone whether WWE should have delayed Punk's hometown return:
"What does that really achieve? We're gonna debut him in Chicago, he's gonna get the pop. Okay, what does that really do [from a storyline perspective]?" [6:28 – 6:37]
In the video above, Russo questioned whether Punk's return ended the hype surrounding Cody Rhodes' storyline with Roman Reigns.
Possible logic behind CM Punk's Survivor Series appearance
Since his return, CM Punk has been one of the most talked-about wrestlers in the world. The Straight Edge Superstar will appear on RAW moving forward after signing with the red brand on this week's episode.
Writing With Russo host Dr. Chris Featherstone speculated that WWE brought Punk back in Chicago to create buzz online:
"They're looking for the moment to pop. Just like with [AEW President] Tony Khan with finding his shiny new toys, pro wrestling in general is just about getting the next pop. That's the reason why storylines are very lackluster. That's the reason why characters aren't developed. It's just a matter of what can we do to generate a huge algorithm on YouTube." [6:48 – 7:19]
Punk will compete in the Men's Royal Rumble match on January 27, 2024. He is also set to face Dominik Mysterio at an untelevised live event on December 26.
What have you made of CM Punk's return so far? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
