CM Punk Takes Shot At Vince McMahon On WWE Raw, Will Be On Commentary At WrestleMania
After being sidelined with a torn tricep immediately following Royal Rumble 2024, CM Punk made his long-awaited return to WWE programming Monday night on "WWE Raw." By the time the segment was over, Punk had both taken an indirect shot at former WWE/TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon and found himself with a spot at the commentary table during WrestleMania 40's World Heavyweight Championship match.
"The Best in the World" took to the microphone to call out various top stars in WWE. Punk personally taunted Roman Reigns, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Drew McIntyre, but "The Scottish Psychopath" was the one to come out and put a pin in Punk's one-man segment, as the two exchanged verbal barbs. Things began to get heated once McIntyre invited Punk to be "in the front row" during his match against World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin'" Rollins. McIntyre claimed he was "The Chosen One", to which Punk dared McIntyre to say the name of the "paragon of virtue" who gave that nickname. While nobody said McMahon's name, he is well-known as the first person to refer to McIntyre as "The Chosen One" on television. McMahon was recently removed from the company after becoming mired in allegations of sex trafficking and abuse. Interestingly, in contrast to recent reports about only The Rock being able to swear in his promos, Punk also used the word "dips***" (for which McIntyre admonished him with the words, "PG, brother") and made a suggestive joke about his wife, former WWE star AJ Lee.
Tensions reached a boiling point as McIntyre implored Punk to make use of his infamous microphone skills and join the commentary booth as a guest commentator during the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40. Rollins then joined the segment, and while the Chicago crowd seemed to vastly prefer to idea of Punk as special guest referee, he ultimately made it clear he will join the commentary team during the World Heavyweight Championship match between Rollins and McIntyre at WrestleMania 40. Punk left the ring unscathed, but the same could not be said for McIntyre. Shortly after Punk took his leave, Rollins flattened the enraged Scotsman with a Superkick, followed by a Stomp.