CM Punk: 5 Fantasy Feuds For His WWE Return

CM Punk is back in the WWE. Well, there’s a sentence we never thought we’d say: ‘CM Punk is back in the WWE’. No matter what you think of CM Punk and his return to the company he walked out on nine years ago, the thought of seeing him step into a WWE ring for a final run, however long that might be, is a little bit intoxicating, whichever side of the great CM Punk divide you stand on.
And trust us, there is a divide, even here at 25 Years Later.

Half of us are all for the return of the Voice of the Voiceless, and can’t wait to see his last defiant, glorious shot at the big time before he hangs it up for good, while the rest think that the latter-day Hulk Hogan is going to piss off everyone he comes in contact with and sabotage as many as he can with his backstage politicking and backstabbing.

However, we do all agree on one thing: whether he goes out in a blaze of glory or a catastrophic car crash, it’s going to be highly entertaining.

With that in mind, we’ve put our heads together and decided to come up with 5 Fantasy Feuds For CM Punk that we would all like to see.

Number 5: Triple H

What? We said fantasy about 15 seconds ago. And yes, we know that this is very, VERY, unlikely due to Papa H having had a heart attack that almost killed him, but as we said, fantasy.
If there was ANY way that this could happen, there is no doubt that the WWE, and Triple H himself, would want it to happen.

The story is already there. When Punk left the company, part of the reason was that he hated Triple H and was sick of The Game trying to insert himself (oo-er missus) into Punk’s storyline when he was, arguably, the hottest thing in the industry at the time.

A returning CM Punk could, in this scenario, call out Triple H and try to bury the hatchet as the returning hero, only for Trips to sucker him, kick him in the ding ding and drop him with The Pedigree. And in just a few simple moves, the WWE sets up a feud that has been 9 years in the making. After all, just the hype of these two facing off with an old score to settle would be more than enough to carry them through the stale match they’d eventually have as a payoff.

Number 4: Roman Reigns

This one also writes itself but is as unlikely as the Triple H feud, though for different reasons.
Roman Reigns has not been shy in vocalising his distaste for CM Punk and the way he carries himself in the locker room, meaning that, once again, the story already has a foot in reality and a great jumping-off point.

Punk calls out Reigns for what he said, the two have words and possible fisticuffs, leading to them facing off over a series of Premium Live Events, trading wins back and forth before the decider at Wrestlemania 41.

Ah…notice that, did you? That’s right, we said WrestleMania 41, which is why this is probably not going to happen. Let’s face it, we all expect Cody to face Roman for the title at next year’s ‘Mania, which Rhodes should win, so that would mean that THIS CM Punk feud will have to wait until the RAW after WrestleMania 40 to kick off, and then go almost an entire year for the final rubber match in 2025. It would also be non-title, and we would be surprised if a returning CM Punk didn’t want one last shot at the gold.

Number 3: Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens is, as far as we’re concerned, untouchable within the WWE because he is the best all-round performer on the roster.

He’s fantastic in the ring, killer on the mic, hysterical in backstage segments, and has given the wrestling world its greatest moment, not just of 2023 but the last decade, when he managed to punch both Grayson Waller and Austin Theory in their stupid faces with one shot.

This would be another one for the future, as it would work better with Punk’s inevitable heel turn, and as the reaction to his return has turned him face immediately, that’s not going to be for a while.
When he does turn, the first person he should face has to be KO, with KO pointing out on the show after Punk goes evil what everyone always suspected—that CM Punk is not to be trusted.
If the WWE are clever, they can plant this seed early by having KO be the one who looks at everybody else as if they’re nuts for trusting someone who took his ball and went home in both the WWE and AEW, even going so far as doing the whole Jay Uso shtick he did on RAW, but with a CM Punk twist.

And the best part of all this is that Kevin Owens should go over. When and if this happens, CM Punk’s stock will be high enough that he doesn’t need the win, so having Owens get the final pin in their feud would be perfect.

Number 2: Seth Rollins

And we’re back to people who have a legitimate beef with CM Punk. Even though we’re not completely sold on Seth’s reaction to Punk’s return at Survivor Series, as good as it was, there is no doubt that Rollins is in the same camp as his former Shield running mates, Roman Reigns and Jon Moxley, and that camp is the “We fricking hate CM Punk” camp

Like both Mox and Reigns, Seth Rollins has been vocal in his dislike of CM Punk, and it wouldn’t surprise us if this is the straw that broke Rollins’s character arc from face back to heel.

All it would take is for CM Punk to accidentally cost Rollins a match and for Damien Priest to cash in his MITB contract and Rollins, apocalyptic at the loss of his title, no matter that it wasn’t by design, takes all his frustration out on Punk and leaves him bleeding in the middle of the ring.

The beauty of this is that Rollins is a much better bastard than he is a face and the uber over returning hero needs an outstanding bad guy for his first major feud.

And we can’t think of anyone better than Seth Fricking Rollins.

Number 1: Cody Rhodes

This will happen. It has to. And it kind of makes our booking of Reigns vs. Punk from earlier kind of redundant, but hey, we warned you it was fantasy and it’s our list so ya boo to you.

As long as Vince McMahon is kept chained up in a cellar somewhere during WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes will beat Roman Reigns and become champion.

The following night on RAW, during his ‘I did it!’ moment, CM Punk comes out and warns Cody he’s gunning for him. At first, everything seems cordial enough, but after nearly 6 months of CM Punk being the guy we love to love, what better time to turn him into the guy we love to hate?

He could start niggling at Rhodes, constantly reminding him of his time in the other company, bringing up his friendship with The Bucks, Omega, and Page, though obviously in kayfabe and not mentioning them by name, and then use that and his hatred of them to turn heel and go after Cody at every single opportunity.

They could stretch this out for an entire year, also incorporating the Kevin Owens angle we suggested earlier, and have the payoff at WrestleMania 41, with Rhodes going over and cementing him as the number one babyface in the company, while CM Punk wouldn’t suffer from the loss because, love him or hate him, he’s CM Punk and people will fork out lots of cash to see him beat people or to be beaten himself.

So, what do you think? Who would you fantasy book CM Punk to face from those currently within the WWE? Sound off in the comments section and let us know.