The CM Punk return at Survivor Series: War Games was officially one of the biggest moments in WWE history. The pro wrestling superstar, who hasn’t been in a WWE ring for nearly a decade, making his last premium live event at the 2014 Royal Rumble, returned in his hometown of Chicago and made social media history.

Survivor Series is the last scheduled WWE PLE of the year, and it was a big one. The return of Randy Orton, who has been out with a back injury since May 2022, was upstaged by the CM Punk return, which garnered a record-shattering 71 million views on all social media platforms.

Prior to Punk’s comeback — which he once said would never happen unless former CEO Vince McMahon was dead and his children and their partners were no longer involved in WWE — the record for social media views on a single video was Logan Paul’s frog splash selfie from the top rope onto Roman Reigns laying in the announcers’ desk at Crown Jewel 2022. That video garnered over 40 million views across all platforms.

After the shocking return, CM Punk acknowledged his shocking return to WWE airwaves by posing for a picture with WWE chief content officer and head of creative Triple H (who is also McMahon’s son-in-law), and the caption, “Mighty cold day in hell.”

Punk has appeared for many independent pro wrestling promotions since leaving WWE in 2014 and most recently was with WWE rival AEW. However, in September 2023, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced the promotion terminated the wrestler’s contract following multiple backstage incidents with other talent.