Freddie Prinze Jr. Critiques CM Punk's WWE Return, WWE Raw Promo

During his first WWE promo in nearly a decade, CM Punk came across as a lesser version of his rebellious self, at least in the opinion of Freddie Prinze Jr. The former WWE writer believes Punk should have begun his address with the "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make money" line rather than expressing his gratitude to fans. 

On his "Wrestling with Freddie" podcast, Prinze detailed how he would have reintroduced Punk to the WWE Universe. "I would have liked to have seen him come out in a suit and tie, and the whole crowd would have been like, 'What?' And he'd have gone, 'This is why I'm back,'" Prize said. "And the last sentence of his promo, which was the only unscripted part should have been the beginning of the promo. That would have put every single fan on notice that this is a different CM Punk."

Prinze believes Punk should have come across as an entitled heel demanding title shots on account of his star power and stature. "He should have said, 'I'm gonna be handed the World Heavyweight Championship match. I'm not gonna wrestle to earn a title shot. I've already been promised a shot, and Seth Rollins is gonna have to deal with it.'" Prinze added that Punk should have followed those lines by insulting the crowd for singing Rollins' song and making it clear that he was walking out of WrestleMania 40 as the new World Heavyweight Champion.

Instead of Prinze's version, fans got to witness Punk referring to WWE as "home" and him claiming to have "changed" over the last decade or so. Prinze admittedly disliked this aspect of the promo. "It was weird to see him come in humble — that's how you knew it was scripted. It did not feel to me like a normal CM Punk promo ... until the very end."