CM Punk Joins RAW Brand, Enters 2024 Royal Rumble Match

By
Matt Boone
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(Photo Credit: WWE)

“The Best in the World” has arrived on Monday Night RAW.

And now he’s coming to the first premium live event for WWE of the New Year.

During this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, CM Punk cut a lengthy promo after being brought to the ring by RAW General Manager Adam Pearce.

The segment saw Punk reflect on his walk-out of WWE nearly ten years ago to the day in Cleveland, OH. before ultimately announcing that he will be joining the RAW brand.

After that, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin'” Rollins came to the ring and cut an intense promo face-to-face with “The Best in the World” CM Punk, which saw Rollins flat out tell Punk to his face that he hates him and hopes to be able to shut the door on him for good if he screws up like always and ends up blowing his last chance in the company.

Punk would end the segment by declaring himself for the 30-man Royal Rumble match at the WWE Royal Rumble 2024 premium live event on January 27, 2024 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburgh, FL.

Featured below is a detailed recap of the entire CM Punk and Seth Rollins segment from this week’s show.

CM Punk Decides Which Brand He’s Going To Sign With

Now we shoot live backstage where we see Raw General Manager Adam Pearce with a contract in-hand walking the hallways. He approaches CM Punk’s locker room, knocks on the door and walks in as we head into another commercial break.

When we return, we see Raw G.M. Adam Pearce make his way to the ring with a contract in his hands. He mentions how he’s spoken with Nick Aldis of SmackDown and Shawn Michaels of NXT, but now it’s time for CM Punk to make his way down to the ring and make his decision on which brand he is going to sign with.

With that said, Pearce formally introduces “The Best in the World” and Cult of Personality by Living Colour plays as CM Punk emerges in his “Hell Froze Over” t-shirt to fans loudly chanting “CM Punk! CM Punk!” as he settles inside the squared circle.

He starts by mentioning the big decision ahead of him. He says this city and this particular venue hasn’t always been kind to him. He mentions how this is the building he made his debut in. He says he had Mickie James on his arm. He says after his debut he was sent to OVW and he embraced being uncomfortable and learned how to love it.

Punk then recalls returning to the same building years later as world champion, but he was kicked in the head backstage by Randy Orton and then stripped of the title. He asks if anyone in the building was there ten years ago for this story. He mentions how 10 years ago he had the make the hardest decision of his life in leaving WWE.

CM Punk continues mentioning how he wonders if anyone in Cleveland bought a ticket that night to see CM Punk only for him not to show up. He mentions a story of a young fan who fits that exact description. He apologizes to anyone else like this who was affected by his decision to walk out of the company.

Now he moves on to talk about the talks he had with Nick Aldis and Shawn Michaels about possibly signing contracts to join SmackDown or NXT. He says Adam Pearce has put together a deal that is honestly head and shoulders better than both of those other deals. He says if he’s very real or very honest, his mind was already made up when he looked at the calendar and saw Cleveland.

He says he’s here to bury those ghosts and right a few wrongs. He says his future starts now and says you couldn’t write a better television show. Ten years, almost to the day, that CM Punk walked out, he walks right back in. He says if you’re happy or mad about it, you better learn to love it. He tells Adam Pearce that the newest Raw Superstar is named CM Punk. He says CM Punk is home. He signs the contract as fans chant “CM Punk! CM Punk!”

Seth Rollins And CM Punk Have An Intense Promo Battle

After that, with Punk and Pearce still in the ring, we hear the familiar sounds of the theme music of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin'” Rollins. Out comes “The Visionary” and “The Revolutionary” and he gets in the ring and immediately has an intense stare down with CM Punk as fans roar in the background. Neither guy breaks the stare, which stays intense throughout.

Half the fans chat “CM Punk!” while the other half sing Seth Rollins’ music without it actually playing. It’s playing out pretty perfectly. Rollins walks past Punk and asks for a microphone. Rollins begins by welcoming Punk to “Monday Night Rollins.” He tells Punk he hopes he knows how incredibly fortunate he is to be standing in this ring right now. He asks Punk to do him one favor. He says don’t dare call this place his home.

He tells Punk it’s not his home because he walked out on it ten years ago and then spent ten years actively trying to tear it down, slandering it in interviews and competing against it. He says this isn’t Punk’s home, it’s his home. The fans cheer and start singing along with Rollins’ music without it playing again. He says he’s been here and for everybody in the back, those are his brothers and sisters.

He says everyone in the building and everyone watching at home, this is his family and he says he’ll do everything in his power to protect it from people like Punk. He wants to make one thing perfectly clear. He doesn’t want there to be any confusion. He says he’s gonna say it plainly with every fiber of his being. He tells CM Punk that he hates him, but if he’s gonna be a part of WWE again, then he wants him on Monday Night RAW.

Rollins says the truth always comes out. He says this is his last chance. He says either he’ll expose himself and self destruct like he always does, and he’ll be the first person in the back to slam the door shut on his legacy, or if by some miracle he has changed, and if he’s got any gas left in his old tank, maybe one day he’ll be lucky enough to stand across the ring from him in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match and then he can expose him for the fraud that he is.

He will show him that there are levels to this and he will wrestle circles around him and he will let him understand in real time what it means to be “The Best in the World.” The fans respond with loud “CM Punk!” chants, eager to hear his response in his first promo battle since returning to the company.

CM Punk Declares Himself For 2024 Royal Rumble

Punk sternly asks Rollins if he’s done. He says that’s his one pass to speak to him disrespectfully without him coming after him.

He says he’s never asked for anything to be handed to him and he’s always done things the stubborn-hard way. He asks where Adam Pearce is. He says as long as they’re making things official, they might as well make this official — CM Punk is entering the Royal Rumble. He says when CM Punk wins, maybe Seth, it’ll be you that he comes after. He drops the mic and his theme hits to end an intense, excellent promo segment.

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