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At this point, CM Punk has almost been back in WWE for as long as he was in AEW.
Yes, AEW still technically gets the nod, but Punk was on and off of the active roster for much of his run with the promotion, as he just couldn't seem to stay healthy after his initial return and programs with the likes of MJF. He only wrestled 32 matches, or roughly once per month, and when his match with Samoa Joe came to an end at All In, fans knew that more than a few “dream matches” were left on the table as he fought – literally – his way out the door.
But does Punker feel the same way? Are there any wrestlers he wishes he got to mix it up with in Tony Khan's company before he left town? Well Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat asked Punk that very question and got a pretty straightforward answer.
“No. I feel like I wasted some matches on some people, for sure. That is what it is,” Punk explained via Fightful. “Some people understand the business, and some people don't. I think everybody here understands the business.”
Alright, even if you are a certified AEW hater, which Punk certainly is – one of those “wasted matches” was for sure with “Hangman” Adam Page, right? – there are certainly some matches fans would have loved to see him wrestle, like finishing his trilogy with MJF, a trios title run with FTR, or even a Ring of Honor legacy match with the “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Unfortunately for Punk, in this case, he just comes off as bitter, as he produced some of his best in-ring work in the promotion, even if his experience was largely negative for interpersonal reasons.
CM Punk hopes AJ Lee will return to WWE
Elsewhere in his conversation with Rosenberg, CM Punk was asked about his wife, AJ Lee, who has been out of professional wrestling for almost as long as his own hiatus. Has his return to WWE made it more or less likely that she could return to the ring in the not-too-distant future?
Well, in Punker's opinion, it's probably the former, as he believes she's a perfect fit in the modern version of WWE.
“Yeah, I would say it definitely did. It's more of a workload thing for her. She is very busy. I'm not trying to not talk about it, but I'm also trying to temper people's expectations. If she wraps up some stuff that she's working on and she has the time and she feels like dipping her toe back in or jumping back in the pool, she'll let us know,” Punk noted via Fightful.
“Her and I are similar in the regard that we're out of time. You could pluck us both off from where we started and put us in any kind of era. I definitely think she would thrive here. She thrived back then when the focus wasn't women, and this past week, every single television show we had opened with a women's match and main evented with a women's match. You can't tell me she wouldn't fit in there.”
With numerous members of the WWE Universe, from Bayley, to Cora Jade, and Roxanne Perez, all clearly influenced by Lee's run back in the day, the promotion should push hard to get her back into the fold, as it would not only be good for morale, but would also do numbers for the promotion too. Why? Because even now, fans hold up signs wanting to see Lee back, as her popularity hasn't diminished much, if at all, during her time away from.
