What in the you-know-what is going on with CM Punk? Is he about to return to AEW as the Devil? Will he instead be sticking around Chicago to make a special appearance at Survivor Series? Or could this all be a bunch of smoke, with all parties leaning into a spectacle when they know there isn't any fire to back it up?

While fans all but certainly won't know the big reveal – if there even is one – until it actually happens, one person who certainly doesn't think the “Best in the World” will be making his return at Survivor Series is Eric Bischoff, as he simply doesn't believe his addition would provide much value to an already (basically) sold out show.

“I still think it's a remote possibility. I've never come out and said, ‘There's no way it'll ever happen.' I know better than that, for crying out loud. I've been involved in too many things that everybody thought would never happen. But I do feel that it's extremely remote. One, just because logically, WWE doesn't need him. Their business is strong. They're selling out everywhere they go for TV. Their finances, each time they present them, they're records,” Eric Bischoff said on 83 Weeks via Fightful.

“So I don't know where the need would be. I certainly don't believe it would be in Chicago this weekend. I just don't. Because there's definitely no need there. The tickets are already sold out. Why do it? Obviously, there's a much bigger audience than just that audience in Chicago, but again, I'll go back to what I stated. They don't really need him. WWE doesn't need it.

“Now, Royal Rumble? Going into WrestleMania, I could buy that as a possibility because it makes sense, even though they don't need Punk by any stretch of the imagination. There is absolutely zero need for him. However, getting that surge of momentum and that reaction that you know he would get, especially because of the nature of Royal Rumble, it's just built for that kind of thing. The buzz going into WrestleMania, that's a period of time when you want every bit of buzz you can get. I could see that happening. But I just don't see it happening in Chicago. Now watch, it'll f**king happen in Chicago.”

On paper, it's pretty hard to argue with Bischoff's assessment, as if the whole point of debuting a big star is to pop a massive rating, sell out a show, and get fans excited for the future, that job has more or less already been accomplished at Survivor Series without Punk, assuming the company couldn't move the show to, like, Wrigley Field to accommodate the surge in ticket sales the “Second City Saint” would produce. If Punk were to return to WWE, the Royal Rumble really does feel like a more appropriate venue.

Eric Bischoff dissects the CW's reported interest in AEW.

When news broke that The CW actually approached Tony Khan about adding some AEW content – namely a weekly show for Ring of Honor – to its channel before ultimately stealing NXT away from USA Network in a major deal with WWE, it got fans talking.

Did Khan really want to keep ROH on a paid streaming site instead of getting major money from a television network? Or was he hoping to fold the company in with AEW as part of a new deal with Warner Bros Discovery?

Either way, Eric Bischoff believes passing on the deal was a mistake, as diversifying a promotion's television properties is always a good idea, especially as AEW prepares for its own media rights deal.

“I can see both sides of that. You know, part of me would probably lean towards diversifying and using a show to get on CW, because you just don't want to be in a position. Trust me when I tell you where all of your eggs are in one basket. In anything, whether it be stocks or real estate holdings or licensing deals with television studios. You know, you want networks. You want as much diversification as you can get. And you know, that's one of the things again, on Strictly Business, we talked about at length was how you look at WWE now and they've got. An exit lined up on a network. You've got SmackDown lined up on cable and potentially RAW lined up on a streaming platform. It makes more sense now than it ever has for that very reason. Because now you're diversified. You're not putting all of your eggs in one basket or even two.

“Now, you're spread across three opportunities. And you're Nick Khan, and you've been led to believe, or you just believe, that CW is making an attempt to grow its audience. There's nothing wrong with being a big fish in a small pond, especially if that big fish is NXT, which is your third-string brand. And now you've got a foothold in the network. It's pretty smart. And if I were Tony in that position that he theoretically was in or supposedly was in with CW, I think I would have planted a flag just for the diversification. And because it gives you leverage in future negotiations because TBS would know that you have other viable opportunities. I think that would have been a smart move. But I also understand the play that he would make and want to have as much. So I see it both ways, but if I would have had to make a decision in Tony's shoes, I would have diversified.

“Yeah, but he didn't make that billion dollars. I mean, we're talking about business. You don't think some of these billionaires then [that] implies that he has the vision and the experience and the entrepreneurial, you know, qualities and all of the things that it takes to become a billionaire. Tony inherited. Tony inherited his money. He didn't make his money. And that's important when you're talking about a judgment like we were just talking about in context.”

Wait, TK didn't talk to The CW because he's an inheritance billionaire? Huh, while Eric Bischoff made a few good points early on, as WWE has made it clear that unless they completely sell their entire company to someone like NBC Universal, they aren't going to put all of their shows on the same network, I'm not sure if that's really the point here. The real point is, if Khan decided to keep ROH online-only for now, he'd better have a good idea of what to do with AEW as a whole next, as passing on real money for potential is eventually going to leave you with no real money left on the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEnetq-GKq8