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CM Punk Appearance Set For WWE TV Show

By John Canton • Published 17th June 2024
CM Punk

CM Punk is officially a WWE Raw superstar, but it has been officially announced that he is heading to SmackDown in a city that means a lot to him.

The WWE Clash at the Castle PLE ended in heartbreak for Drew McIntyre because of CM Punk. After McIntyre hit the World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest with a Claymore Kick in the match, there was no count from referee Eddie Orengo because he got knocked to the floor.

That led to somebody else running down to the ring to count to the pin. The man in the referee shirt countered one…two…and stopped. As McIntyre looked up, he stared right in the face of his biggest rival CM Punk, who had borrowed a referee shirt backstage. McIntyre pushed Punk against the turnbuckle, which led to Punk giving McIntyre a low blow kick and a shove. Priest recovered, hit South of Heaven and referee Orengo was back in the ring to count the pin.

After the show, CM Punk appeared on the post-WWE Clash at the Castle press conference where he spoke about being cleared to return to the ring soon.

“I’ve been cleared, only for referee duty. I had a little bit of a hiccup out there. We’ll go back to the lab and reassess. I can tell you that my arm feels amazing. I got permission to skip Raw in Corpus Christi to go home to Chicago to see my doctors with the idea that I’m going to be cleared.”

“I think SmackDown is in Chicago next week. I’m a Raw guy, but I’m going to skip Raw, get cleared, and show up to SmackDown and let everybody know the good news. Hopefully.”

Those comments were on Saturday night. We are now on Monday and as of this afternoon, the Allstate Arena in Chicago announced that CM Punk will be appearing on this Friday’s show even though he’s a Raw wrestler.

The Allstate Arena in Chicago is the same arena where CM Punk made his shocking return to WWE after nearly a decade away in November 2023 at Survivor Series. As most wrestling fans know, Chicago is Punk’s hometown and he’s had a lot of memorable moments in that city.

CM Punk “Skipping Raw” Is Just A Storyline

While CM Punk said that he was skipping Raw to see his doctor today, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said that the excuse Punk gave was just a storyline. Meltzer added that Punk was not scheduled for this week’s Raw.

“Punk was cleared for the physicality involved on Saturday, where he was choked a little by Drew McIntyre and did a low blow. One would expect his appearance on Smackdown to address the storyline version of his angle and perhaps give a bit hint on when he will return, which should be a singles match with McIntyre.”

There was also a report originally from Wrestlevotes claiming that Punk likely won’t be ready to wrestle at the Money in the Bank PLE on July 6th, but he should be ready to go at SummerSlam on August 3rd, which could see him face McIntyre in a huge grudge match.