CM Punk reflects on one-year anniversary of WWE return

CM Punk took a moment on Monday to reflect on the anniversary of his WWE return.

On this day last year, Punk made his surprise return to WWE at the conclusion of Survivor Series 2023, marking his first time back with the company in nearly a decade. The show took place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago and his return came together at the last minute, happening less than three months after he was fired by AEW.

Punk sent out a message on his Instagram stories today thanking the fans, his family and friends backstage, and some of the WWE executives who helped make his return possible.

“Happy one year anniversary of my [return] to wwe. Thank you to all the fans for waiting, chanting my name for years and carrying me on this journey,” Punk wrote. “Thank you to my family and friends backstage for the warmth and continued support. Thank you Paul [Levesque], Nick [Khan] and Bruce [Prichard] for the trust and making it all happen. Love you all! We are just getting started!”

Punk also shared the following interaction he had with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin about his return:

WWE celebrated the anniversary by sharing some new behind-the-scenes footage of Punk from Survivor Series 2023. It includes him interacting with Levesque, Prichard, Stephanie McMahon, William Regal, Michael Hayes, Bayley, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, and more while in Gorilla position before and after his return.

It was revealed last week that Punk will be part of the OG Bloodline team at Survivor Series 2024 this Saturday (November 30). The WarGames match is set to pit Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn & Punk against Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Jacob Fatu & Bronson Reed.