CM Punk Had Handshake Agreement For WWE Return Years Ago Before Vince McMahon 'Ghosted' Him

CM Punk's WWE return at Survivor Series 2023 ranks among the most improbable in wrestling history. And yet the Straight-Edge Superstar almost came back to the company years before even signing with AEW.

While speaking to Robbie Fox during a recent appearance on My Mom's Basement, Punk revealed that he had a handshake deal to return to WWE in 2018 or '19 after meeting with Vince McMahon.

However, the deal seemingly fell apart when McMahon 'ghosted' the former WWE Champion.

“I think the Twitter and the internet perception is I tried to go back to WWE and they didn't want me so I went and did the FOX show. That's not what happened at all. I had a hilarious, clandestine meeting in the Borgata in Atlantic City with Vince (McMahon) and Triple H. I don't even know now. What is it? It's 2025. This has to be 2018 or '19, and it's just because Vince just started (calling). I had agents, they were telling me, 'Hey, they wanna talk to you' and I was like, 'Whatever, I'm not interested', and then Vince just started calling me. He was like, 'Hey! I'm eliminating the middleman', and I was just like, 'This is insane', and it just so happened that, 'Oh, well, I'm gonna be here'. 'Alright, we can get there'. You know, 'Okay, alright' and we had a meeting and we had a handshake agreement and then he ghosted me.

"So, that's why it didn't happen. Unbelievable. I'm gonna write a book someday… It's a great story. It's a fantastic story. Yeah, that would have been probably the first time that me and Triple H probably started chipping it away at any problems or drama that we had in the past. That was the first instance… Yeah (I was open to a return at the time). I was very much just like, yeah, okay. Pay me, whatever. I took some stuff personally. Like, years have gone by. Alright, I'm over it, recognised that it's a business. You don't want me to take it personally? Just pay me", Punk said.

The 46-year-old previously noted how McMahon's removal from WWE helped bring about his return, after reports that McMahon had labelled Punk as the one man he couldn't do business with.

H/T Fightful

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