The return of WWE 

So much has happened in professional wrestling. WWE joined forces with the UFC to form a new corporate entity known as TKO.

The merger finally brought Vince McMahon’s meddlesome ways to an end when his new boss knighted Paul Levesque (HHH) as WWE’s creative head. Casual fans don’t realize that Vince has spent the last few months derailing HHH’s creative plans by unceremoniously burying his favourite wrestlers and changing scripts minutes before RAW and Smackdown went on air.

You can blame Vince for the disjointed stories and repetitive matches from the first half of the year. But those days are over. Vince is well and truly out of the picture, which is why HHH’s NXT babies (Gargano, Hartwell, Larae) are suddenly getting TV time.

NXT was primarily a HHH and Shawn Michaels project. Vince never watched it. He couldn’t understand the appeal of characters like Gunther and Cameron Grimes, hence his bizarre habit of killing their momentum mere weeks after promoting them to WWE’s main shows. But WWE is firing on all cylinders. The women’s division, in particular, has benefited significantly from HHH’s deft touch.

Are the women wrestling in deafening silence? Yes, because audiences don’t know them. Vince would often relegate them to inconsequential two-minute matches every other week. HHH has to train the crowd to care about them through two vital avenues. The first is longer matches.

HHH tries to give the female wrestlers as much time as possible to showcase their stuff. Again, you can’t help but cringe at the silence whenever Katana Chance and Caden Carter enter the ring. But the likes of Tigan Nox have shown that consistent exposure makes a difference.

Give it a few months… Especially when you consider the effort HHH has injected into giving the women meaty storylines. Damage CTRL became the most engaging saga on Smackdown weeks ago when Kairi Sane and Asuka joined the group. Fans are tuning in every Friday because they know Bailey’s time with the stable is coming to a tragic end.

Chelsea Green has turned her partnership with Piper Niven into a surprisingly entertaining car wreck of a championship run. Nia Jax has finally given Rhea Ripley’s reign the spark it sorely lacked. Maxine Dupri is gradually ditching her training wheels. In due time, she may even dominate the tag-team scene.

Overall, WWE was the strongest it had been in decades before ‘Survivor Series 2023’ came along and broke the internet by marking the return of C.M. Punk. You would not be wrong in calling Punk the signing of the century in professional wrestling.

For context, Punk hates WWE and, in particular, HHH. Things came to a head in 2014 when the company fired Punk on his wedding day. Punk spent the next few years badmouthing WWE to every publication before finally surfacing in AEW to great fanfare. But things went wrong in 2022. Simmering tensions between Punk and various AEW executive vice presidents (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) escalated into a physical altercation in the aftermath of ‘All Out 2022.’

The ensuing investigation blamed Punk for inciting the conflict, and an endless stream of rumors suggested that his initial suspension would lead to permanent expulsion from the promotion. But to everyone’s surprise, Punk returned to AEW in 2023. This time, Tony Khan (AEW boss) took measures to smother the fire between Punk and his vice presidents by giving the wrestler his own show (AEW: Collision). Punk kept the ‘All-Out’ Controversy alive by banning Omega and The Young Bucks from Collision.

Nonetheless, everyone expected the athlete to behave now that Khan had given him everything he ever wanted. He proved them wrong by getting into another backstage fight with Jack Perry at ‘All-In London’ back in August. This time, he went a step further and physically threatened Tony Khan. Naturally, he lost his job.

After burning every bridge with WWE and wasting two chances with AEW, Punk’s time in wrestling was well and truly over. Or so we thought, until his shocking return to WWE months later.

Now, hardcore AEW fans are calling him a sellout. WWE fans think he’s a cancer that destroys everything he touches. Regardless, you can’t deny that WWE is the most exciting it has been in ages, and Punk is partly responsible.

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