Report: CM Punk Had Tryout as Commentator on “WWE Backstage” Fox Sports 1 Show
A big name may be returning to WWE. It was reported today by PWInsider’s Mike Johnson that former WWE Champion CM Punk was in Los Angeles earlier this week at FOX Studios. Punk was there to meet about having a role on the new show “WWE Backstage” on Fox Sports 1, which officially announced earlier this week with a debut date of Tuesday, November 5. Johnson noted that “numerous WWE sources” confirmed the report of Punk’s tryout.
The report from Johnson noted that Renee Young, who is the host of the WWE Backstage show along with Booker T, was also present during Punk’s appearance and they did some tryout on camera. It was specified by Johnson that they cannot confirm if Punk has signed on to be a part of the show.
Others that have also tried out for the WWE Backstage include former WWE wrestler/announcer Tazz, former WWE Divas Champion Paige, current WWE Superstar and former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio and also WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman aka X-Pac. I believe Paige and X-Pac live in the Los Angeles area while Mysterio is in San Diego or somewhere close to LA, so it makes sense that they could be involved.
The WWE Backstage show is produced by Fox and not WWE, so if Punk were to sign on as a host of WWE Backstage, he would be working for Fox. Of course, he would also be involved with WWE since that’s what the show is about. Punk chose to leave WWE in January 2014 while under contract and a few months later, he received termination papers (on his wedding day). When Punk made an appearance at Starrcast 3 in Chicago in August, he said he was willing to listen to WWE if they called him.
In case you missed it yesterday, WWE officially announced WWE Backstage would be hosted by Renee Young and Booker. We have all the details here. It will air at 11pmET on Fox Sports 1.
There have been no decisions made on the format of the show and whether it will be three to five people hosting or a rotation of different people. They obviously have over one month to figure it out.
Since leaving WWE, Punk has kept busy fighting twice in the UFC octagon and he’s also an announcer for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFCC) MMA promotion.
Analysis: I watched Punk on the Starrcast broadcast and he seemed open to the idea of working for WWE again if they made the right offer. I don’t know if being an announcer on a taped show in a studio is what he meant by that, but there were reports from a few months ago that his agent reached out to Fox about a potential tryout, so that’s what happened this week.
It was also mentioned in Wrestling Observer this week that if the 41-year-old CM Punk were to return to wrestling, it will likely be in WWE.
Does all of this mean that Punk would return to have one more match or many more matches? I don’t know, but WWE has more money than ever thanks to the five year TV deals worth over $2 billion dollars, so maybe the door is open for Punk to come back. It’s up to him.