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While WrestleMania 40 has a lot of stars set to be in action in some of the most exciting matches in the history of the industry. One name who was supposed to be a part of it but isn’t is CM Punk. The Best in the World sustained an injury at Royal Rumble keeping him out of action for his first WrestleMania since returning.
CM Punk’s return to the company will never be forgotten by the wrestling industry. However, Survivor Series 2023 didn’t feature Punk’s return only. Survivor Series WarGames marked the return of Randy Orton following a career threatening injury. However, millions around the world feel that Punk’s return overshadowed the return of the Viper.
Addressing the Best in the World return, Randy Orton, during his panel on WWE World, stated that both the returns worked out perfectly and none of them overshadowed the other.
“There were rumors that Punk was coming back to WWE. This show was in Chicago. Fans on the internet kind of got this rumor going that the fifth man was going to be CM Punk. Of course, at the time, it wasn’t. It was going to be me. WWE was a little worried. The higher-ups felt that if they were expecting CM Punk and they got little old me that the fans wouldn’t be as happy as we would want them to be. They told everybody, ‘it’s not going to be a surprise, Orton is the fifth man.’”
“The day of Survivor Series, Hunter [Triple H] pulls me aside and he’s like, ‘We have to talk to you about stuff.’ We talked and talked. Ten minutes later, I thought the conversation was over and it was, ‘Alright. Let’s have a good show.’ ‘Cool.’ ‘One more thing. Well, Punk is coming back tonight.’ I was like, ‘You’re fucking kidding me, right?’ We gave up the surprise because he wasn’t coming. In that moment, I was a little pissed, but I don’t think either of our returns stepped on one another. I think fans were happy to see me and equally as happy, if not more happy, to see CM Punk. Punk is the man. Inside story, that night, it didn’t go down how I expected it, but in hindsight, it was perfect. You got two huge returns. It worked.”
While CM Punk won’t be in action at WrestleMania, he will be a part of the commentary team during the World Heavyweight Championship match. On the other hand, Randy Orton challenges Logan Paul along with Kevin Owens for the United States Championship in a triple threat match.
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Do you agree to Randy Orton’s comments on CM Punk’s return at Survivor Series 2023? Let us know in the comment section below.