Cm punk recently interviewed with Renee Paquette on her new podcast, The Oral Sessions. In his interview, Punk sounded open to returning to WWE under the right circumstances. One of those being a story that would be fun to tell. Another being that he wanted to work with talent he had not worked with before. This interview inspired me to write Cm punk's comeback story.
Royal rumble
Ali enters the royal rumble at #1. Kane and Big Show enter at #2 and #3. Ali (leader of retribution) stays alive in the match despite Kane and Big Show teaming up on him just long enough for the next entrant to come in. #4 is CM Punk. He returns to a thunderous roar. Cm Punk teams up with Ali to eliminate Big Show and Kane to avenge his last rumble appearance. Ali and Cm punk make it to the final four of the royal rumble.
It is Ali, Cm Punk, and Seth Rollins. However, when all three men are down. Big Show and Kane come back out with security, and they try to eliminate Ali and Punk. Ali fights off security, but Rollins takes advantage of the distraction, and Ali is eliminated. Cm punk gets rid of Big show and Kane, but he is distracted, and Rollins goes to take advantage, but at the last second, Cm punk dodges, and Rollins goes over the top. Cm punk wins the rumble and achieves his dream of being in the main event of Wrestlemania, and becomes the first person to ever win from the number #4 spot.
Raw
Cm Punk comes out on Raw and delivers a brief promo. He wants to wrestle with the best and prove that he is still the best in the world. Cm Punk issues an open challenge to anyone on the roster, and Aleister Black accepts the challenge, but before the match can happen, Vince comes out and shuts it down. He says Cm punk will not be competing tonight. Vince tells Cm punk that he should have never come back, Vince owns his ass, and he cannot take a shit without Vince's say-so. Then he tells Punk to pick the champion he will face at Wrestlemania.
Punk declines, saying the more things change, the more they stay the same Vince still cannot get out of his talent's way and give his superstars a chance to shine. Cm Punk says I give you an excellent match for free and ruin it like you always do. Cm punk says he is not picking a champion; he has waited for that main event for years. Vince can wait a couple of weeks. Then he starts to walk away, but then he says that Vince still owes him one, and sooner or later, he will have to pay up.
Vince, incredulous, says, fine, you think I owe you? You think I need to give my talent a chance to shine? How about this next week you face Alister Black in a submission match(Crowd cheers)? Oh, but one more thing, you are not allowed to use the anaconda vise.
Cm punk goes thirty minutes with Alister in a grueling match; Cm Punk pulls out a new submission and wins the match. Cm punk starts sitting in on the champion's matches on both brands and lending a hand occasionally on smackdown to help the faces against Roman. Vince continues to terrorize Cm punk on raw, putting him in increasingly gruesome matches each week, vowing to personally make sure he does not make it to the main event of WrestleMania.
Nxt Takeover
Adam Cole defeats Finn Balor for the NXT title in the main event. Then Cm Punk appears and says he has been watching and he wants to be where the action is. He wants to face the best of the best, so he is challenging Adam Cole for the title at WrestleMania. Adam Cole accepts, and the PPV ends.
Nxt and Raw
Cm punk does not show up for raw next week, and Vince cuts a promo about Cm punk abandoning the fans just like he did all those years ago when he took his ball and went home, and Vince uses Punks absence as proof that Punk does not care about the fans.
Cm Punk instead shows up on NXT to confront Adam Cole, but Triple H comes out and tells Cm Punk that he is still signed to Raw and thus not allowed to be on NXT. Adam cuts a promo on Punk, and Punk is dragged out of NXT.
Next week on Raw, Vince welcomes Cm punk back via titantron. Vince says that maybe Cm punk is right. Maybe he is old and out of touch; maybe he cannot break stars like he used to. However, Vince adds that he has always been able to adapt and overcome it is how he took over wrestling. He says modern problems require modern solutions. So from now on, The fiend Bray Wyatt will be the one in charge of making sure that Cm Punk does not make it to Wrestlemania.
Bray and Cm Punk go back and forth in promos and mind games for a couple of weeks. Alexa even gets in on the fun by dressing up as AJ lee and taunting Punk, which leads to Aj lee coming back and fighting with Cm punk against Bray Wyatt and Alexa in a mixed tag match on Raw, which Cm punk and Aj win when Alexa taps out to the black widow.
Elimination Chamber
Cm punk and The Fiend's feud comes to a head at Elimination Chamber, where The Fiend fights Cm Punk in the first-ever Firefly Funhouse Elimination Chamber match. In this match, the pods are not transparent. They are covered so you cannot see what is in them, and the ring is specially designed like The Fiends title belt. The fiend brutalizes Cm Punk, and each time he throws Punk in a pod, it takes him to a different time in Cm Punk's career, but he rewrites history and puts Cm Punk on the other side of it. In the end, though, Cm Punk fights valiantly but gets choked out. However, The Fiend chokes Punk with his Heal glove.
RAW
The Raw after elimination chamber Vince advertises Cm Punk's retirement. Vince brings Cm Punk out to the ring to announce his retirement because Vince finally feels he has broken Cm punk. Cm Punk comes out, and he looks like a shell of himself. He does not quit, however. It is a bait and switch. He picks up McMahon and goes for the GTS, but Adam Cole and the undisputed era save Vince. They beat Cm punk down.
It is revealed that Vince has aligned himself with Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era, and for the next couple of weeks, McMahon's power and the numbers of Adam Cole and the undisputed era get the best of Punk. Until Ali intervenes, and they team up against the Undisputed Era in a two on two tag match in the main event of Raw. When The Undisputed Era tries to use their numbers advantage, Ali lets loose all of Retribution on them, and Vince tries to help out the Undisputed Era with security, and Raw ends in a massive brawl.
Cm Punk and Adam Cole have a contract signing on Raw. Vince and Adam taunt Cm Punk, and Vince gives Cm Punk one last chance to quit before he fails on the biggest stage of them all. He says to admit that he has been broken and save face. Cm Punk says that Vince still does not get it. He has not broken Cm punk. He never did. His match with The Fiend did not break him. He healed him. Cm Punk remembered who he was; for a second, he was just happy to be back, happy to get what he deserved what he earned. However, The Fiend reminded Cm punk that it was not enough. He has always been the best because he is the voice of the voiceless, and he thinks bigger than Vince because he is bigger than Vince, and that has not changed.
Cm punk says he will bet on himself like he always has and put his whole career on the line against Adam Cole if Vince puts his job on the line. Cm asked How much do you believe in Adam cole now? How much are you willing to bet to get rid of me? Vince replies, everything I cant wait to see it. The one thing you have bitched and moaned for all these years will be your undoing. You and everyone else will know what I have always known about you. You are not as good as you think you are. Then who will you blame for your failures then?
Adam Cole says, when I am done with you, you will wish you never left UFC, and then Adam signs the contract. Cm punk says, you do not understand the lengths I will go to make this happen, but you will, and he signs the contract.
Retribution invades NXT and beats up on the Undisputed Era. William Regal makes a three on three elimination match for Wrestlemania Ali and Retribution vs. The Undisputed Era.
Wrestlemania 37
The Undisputed Era defeats Retribution. It comes down to O'Reilly and Ali, and O'Reilly wins with some underhanded tactics. The Cm Punk match can go one of two ways. Either Adam Cole and Cm punk have a classic and Cm punk wins the NXT belt for the first time and becomes an NXT superstar, or if Cm Punk only wants to work part-time, Miz can cash in on Cm punk at mania for the NXT title and win the belt for the first time ever and garner supernova heat for taking the belt from Punk and taking the NXT belt specifically. Then Vince can be storyline ousted the next night on Raw in embarrassing fashion.
Takeaways
This storyline stays true to Cm Punk's request to work with young superstars he has not worked with before. It is a big money storyline worthy of his return. It provides shine to several young talents like Aleister Black, Bray Wyatt, and Adam Cole and Ali. This storyline will always help put over NXT to casual fans. Also, this storyline gives Retribution a good story and a Wrestlemania match aligned with their purpose.
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