CM Punk’s WWE comeback already has enough drama around it, but the backstage heat talk is starting to look pretty thin.
Punk has been off WWE television since the April 20 episode of Monday Night RAW, and WWE still expects him back on July 6, 2026, at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. That return could drop him right into the SummerSlam title picture, but claims about trouble behind the scenes are not getting much support from WWE sources.
During the July 5 Fightful Select Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp was asked about Dave Meltzer saying there had been minor CM Punk issues that traced back to Punk losing the world title at WrestleMania. Sapp said Fightful had already checked into that talk weeks ago, and nobody they spoke with in WWE could confirm it.
“We already have. We spoke on those rumors a couple weeks ago. Those are the ones that he’s talking about. It’s just we’ve gotten nobody to confirm that. Nobody on the creative team, nobody in WWE, nobody that even disliked him.”
That last part is the key. Sapp said he didn’t only ask people who would defend Punk. He even checked with people who do not like him, and they still had not heard anything about backstage issues.
“I reached out to people that I knew disliked him to see if they even heard that hot goss. They had not heard that.”
Sapp said the rumor was news to the people he contacted. He compared it to the recent pay cut talk as another thing that people he checked with were not buying.
“Like, it was news to them when I brought it up. Like we approached the pay cut rumors, all that stuff. Just nobody was buying it. So if it’s true, people in WWE just had not heard it. It’s always possible. It’s true.”
That does not mean Punk’s time away went exactly how WWE wanted. Sapp did say Punk being gone this long was not the plan, but he also pointed out that Punk news usually travels fast when there is something real going on.
“I will say, usually CM Punk news gets out there pretty swiftly, but him being off this long was definitely not the plan.”
For now, the backstage heat rumors around CM Punk look unlikely based on what Fightful was able to find. Punk being off television this long was not the plan, but that does not automatically mean there wasn’t problem.
What do you think WWE should do with CM Punk at SummerSlam? Should they stick with Cody Rhodes, move toward Sami Zayn, or throw another name into the mix? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.
