Latest Backstage Update On Whether CM Punk Is Planned For WWE Survivor Series

Ever since CM Punk was fired by AEW after purportedly making boss Tony Khan "fear for his life," the question on the lips of millions of wrestling fans has been "will Punk return to WWE, and if so, when?" At this point, it's still unclear if Punk will venture back to the company Vince McMahon built anytime soon, at least officially, as WWE and its employees refuse to offer much public comment on the topic. For his part, Punk has done his share of recent pot-stirring, posting vague things on Instagram that have seemingly hinted at everything from a Survivor Series appearance to a shocking return to AEW. With Survivor Series in Chicago, many have been clinging to hope that the "Second City Saint" will appear on the show, but based on the latest report from Fightful Select, the outlook still isn't rosy on that.

According to the report, Fightful's WWE sources say the company's stance on Punk returning to the fold or showing up at Survivor Series remains the same, in that as far as anyone's been made aware, it's not happening at present. Some fans had wondered if the mysterious unnamed target that Shinsuke Nakamura has been talking about on "WWE Raw" was Punk, but on that front, talent spoken to by Fightful say they currently have no idea who the person in question is. Some Punk proponents had also hoped the "Straight-Edge Savior" might fill the last slot on Cody Rhodes' WarGames team, but "Raw" confirmed that it will be Randy Orton. Fightful says this was done specifically to avoid fans anticipating or assuming it would be Punk going into Survivor Series.

While that doesn't sound promising for Punk devotees, it's also fair to assume that, just by the nature of how WWE tends to operate, if they have indeed made plans to include him in Survivor Series, there is likely a close to nil chance they would ever admit that leading up to the event. After all, a shocking surprise return would make much bigger waves.