CM Punk is days away from taking part in one of the biggest matches at SummerSlam 2024. However, his future in WWE now appears to be far from guaranteed.
In November, former AEW World Champion CM Punk stunned the wrestling world when he made his shocking, and triumphant, return to WWE. While the move had been rumored for weeks, it was still stunning to see the “Cult of Personality” back in a WWE ring after a bitter departure 10 years ago.
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Many around the industry had concerns about whether he could make this second run in the company work. He left on bad terms originally. And his stint in AEW ended after a pair of backstage brawls with fellow wrestlers. However, all reports suggest he has been welcomed back with open arms and has been a model employee.
But some new reporting makes it seem like his time on the roster might be short-lived.
CM Punk’s contract is close to expiring, and negotiations with WWE are set to start very soon
On Wednesday, Wrestle Purists reported that CM Punk is looking to restructure his contract. However, it’s not to leverage his massive match with Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam to get more money. It’s to make sure he becomes a WWE lifer after this second stint with the promotion has gone swimmingly.
“I can tell you that he is in the process of trying to get his deal restructured from a money and years standpoint,” the outlet reported. “Punk’s legitimate stance right now is, ‘If all goes well, I will never leave.’ He wants to be here forever is the actual word he used. He wants this to work out. He wants to get paid, and then when it’s time to slow it down, just run NXT.”
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Following the news, Wrestling Observer industry insider Dave Meltzer added more details to the situation and revealed that Punk’s contract is coming due soon. And the two sides will have to hammer out what could be a very lucrative contract for both sides. But obviously, that may not be as easy as they were in November.
“What happened when CM Punk came in, they had a short-term deal that is expiring now. Now there are rollovers in the deal so there’s not a hurry that they have to sign him because the deal does go longer. But they knew all along that right around now would be when they would be renegotiating any deals,” Meltzer wrote.
“People are taking this like ‘Oh he’s trying to renegotiate this contract’ and it’s like it was known that that was going to happen now. Everyone is getting along fine. There’s nothing wrong with it or anything like that.”
Considering his reputation likely still has him on thin ice, hopefully, Punk understands if he wants to finish his career on a WWE high note, now is not the time to leverage his huge popularity for one last massive contract.
