New Report Debunks Popular CM Punk Conspiracy Theory

What impact did CM Punk’s injury really have on the Royal Rumble?

At the Royal Rumble, CM Punk wrestled his first televised match since returning to WWE at Survivor Series. Although the star took on Dominik Mysterio at two live events, his first televised match was treated as a huge deal.

So naturally, when Punk entered the Royal Rumble match and made his bid for victory fans in the stadium and watching at home were buzzing with expectation. However, it wasn’t long before things went off the rails.

Punk suffered a torn triceps while taking a Future Shock DDT from Drew McIntyre. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match, being eliminated by Cody Rhodes who scored the win for the second consecutive year.

This sparked a conspiracy theory online with some fans believing that Punk was actually scheduled to win the match, but an audible was called due to his injury. Although there’s been considerable social media chatter, a new report from Fightful Select has confirmed that Rhodes was always the planned winner.

The following episode of Monday Night Raw was affected by the injury, however, with the segment between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes added as a result.

Booker T Gives Thoughts On CM Punk’s WrestleMania Replacement

With Punk out of action, WrestleMania plans are being hastily re-written. There are already doubts over Seth Rollins’ fitness, Kevin Owens is dealing with a foot injury, and Brock Lesnar’s WWE return was cancelled amid rumours he may never appear for the company again.

Speaking on his podcast, Booker T said he hopes WWE looks to a younger star to fill the void at the top of the card, rather than relying on a legend.