CM Punk has revealed that Vince McMahon, the former chairman of the WWE, sabotaged his return to the company, years before he made a momentous came back at Survivor Series 2023. Punk, who will be challenging Gunther for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam in New Jersey next month, recalled that he had a secret meeting with McMahon and Triple H, the current chief operating officer of the WWE around 2018 or 2019, to discuss a potential WWE return.
Punk went on to add that they had an "handshake agreement" for the same and how it didn't work out, also accusing McMahon on "ghosting" him. The former WWE champion also revealed that McMahon was personally calling him to cut out the middleman, having initially communicated with him through his agents.
"We had a meeting and we had a handshake agreement and then he ghosted me. So, that's why it didn't happen. Unbelievable," Punk was quoted as saying by Fightful.
Punk also revealed how the meeting help him and Triple H bury the hatchet over their ever-so-volatile relatioship over the years.
"That would have been probably the first time that me and Triple H probably started chipping it away at any problems or drama that we had in the past," he said. "That was the first instance."
Punk had left WWE after Royal Rumble 2014 due to a fallout with the management, accusing them of ignoring his serious health issues.
His departure from WWE led to a bitter rift that lasted for years, before both the parties made up to give his return a green light in 2023.
He made his return to the WWE, appearing after the mainevent Men's WarGames match in his hometown Chicago.
Punk appeared post-match after Cody Rhodes, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton defeated The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh) and Drew McIntyre.
However, this led to a strong reaction from Rollins, who didn't seem happy with Punk coming back to the WWE, paving the way for an ongoing storyline.