CM Punk Says Vince McMahon Departure 'Illuminated The Way' For His WWE Return

WWE star CM Punk has created headlines numerous times in his lengthy pro wrestling career, with one of his most notable ones coming last year when he shockingly returned to WWE at Survivor Series. He has detailed how the exit of Vince McMahon paved the path for his return to the promotion.

Punk recently spoke to Denise Salcedo at San Diego Comic-Con, where he stated that many things had to fall in place for his return to WWE to happen.

"No, because it was never like a thing that I was yearning to do," said Punk when asked if there was a specific moment that made him realize that he wanted to return to WWE. "You know, like, there was a lot of things that had to happen for the pathway to kind of clear — the stars had to align, there had to be like a full moon, and a lot of dominoes fell in order for us to get here. There was never like, 'Man, I'd really like to go back.'" 

He feels that because of his past equation with Vince McMahon, one of them being out of the picture helped make his return to WWE a lot smoother.

"Vince being out of the picture I think probably illuminated the way. I think that might have been one of the biggest things and that's both ways, for everybody who's going to obviously sensationalize a headline, you know, it wasn't me, it wasn't him, it was, just, there's a lot of history there, and all of a sudden one of us is removed from the equation and I think it changed a lot of things."

"The Best in the World" reportedly signed a three-year deal when he returned last year, and WWE reached out to him to extend his contract thanks to the huge numbers he has generated through merchandise sales and on social media.