As reported on Monday, CM Punk was said to have been backstage at WWE Raw at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL.
PWInsider has provided more details on the situation, as is reporting the following:
-CM Punk was in Florida over this past weekend doing commentary for the MMA Cage Fury Fighting Championships promotion.
-Punk ended up flying out of Tampa on Monday and ended up on the same flight as several WWE talents and staff, including one Producer, whom he sat next to on that same flight. It was at that point, Punk had learned WWE was holding Raw at the Allstate Arena, which is close to his home in Chicago.
-At some point before Raw was to begin, Punk arrived at the Allstate Arena and was brought into the building by other talents.
-Punk was in a common area in full view of anyone who came past him backstage and ran into Paul Levesque. PWInsider said they were told by a source they witnessed Levesque and Punk shake hands. Punk then was said to have asked Levesque if it was ok that he visit and if he and Levesque could visit for a few minutes. Levesque allegedly had said to Punk that he had to make sure it was ok with the “big guy”, which was in reference to Vince McMahon. The interaction was said to maybe one or two minutes.
-Punk remained in the area and spoke to a number of talents who happened to be walking by, including The Miz. PWInsider said a source told them that The Miz and Punk spoke for some time, clearing up whatever issues were between them from the time period Punk was a co-host on the now defunct WWE Backstage.
-Those who saw Punk greeted him warmly. It was also said there were some who had a “what was he doing here?” reaction, but that was something said later by those who hadn’t actually run into him.
-Punk was never behind any closed doors or rooms, remaining in that common area. There were no “secret meetings.”
-Within 20 minutes or so, Punk was sent word by WWE security that he was not going to be allowed to remain and thus he left the venue. A source told PWInsider Punk was respectful the decision, said his goodbyes and left. It was further noted that Punk was respectful of everyone the short period of time he was backstage.
There were several reports on Monday, one source said that Punk was asked to leave because he was under an AEW contract. A WWE source on Tuesday felt that was not accurate, saying that out Malakai Black and Andrade el Idolo were allowed on WWE TV, sitting with their wives at the WWE Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. Another WWE source pointed out the difference with Punk was that the way he left and that there was a lot of “legal” history between the two sides in the past, so this would be a completely different situation.
-For those who have asked if this was Punk trying to gauge WWE interest, it is being said this is not the case. He is still under contract witho AEW for what one source termed as a “lengthy” amount of time and cannot even negotiate with WWE at this point.
-Based on the response from those within AEW, this was said that if anyone in AEW knew it was going to happen, immediate reaction was that this had to be some sort of lie that was making the rounds.
-Even within WWE, the initial reaction that Punk had visited was complete disbelief and with the exception of those who actually saw him, many thought it was a fake story.
-Punk was not backstage at WWE Raw to pull some sort of publicity stunt. This wasn’t some sort of explosive moment or anything that was filmed by someone, even with a cell phone, to try and grab footage to go viral.
-One person under contract to WWE who saw Punk there said it came off as if Punk was just trying to squash whatever past heat there was between himself and The Miz and theorized that may have been why Punk wanted to speak with Levesque as well.
PWInsider concluded by saying from all the sources they spoke to, it was all in the timing that led to Punk going to the Allstate Arena on a whim.