Why Booker T Believes Wrestling For AEW Just Made CM Punk Want To Go Back To WWE

Although CM Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series, several reports have surfaced that "The Best in the World" may have tried to link up with WWE while still under contract with AEW — especially after the backstage All Out incident in 2022. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T believes there's veracity to the reports, speculating on his "Hall of Fame" podcast that Punk visited a taping of "WWE Raw" in Chicago earlier this year with hopes of returning to WWE. 

"Some people say they escorted him out of the building, but it seems like Punk was trying to figure out, 'How can I get back home to WWE?'" Booker said. "Like I've said a thousand times before, when I went to TNA, it wasn't like WWE — even though we had some big crowds and big shows. But just walking down that ramp in TNA, you knew you weren't in WWE. And I'm sure every one of those guys working in AEW, who came from WWE, feels the same way right now — no matter how big the show is in Wembley. It's gonna be a cool moment but not like walking down the WWE stage."

Booker believes the likes of Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Jeff Hardy, and other former WWE veterans working in AEW are in Tony Khan's promotion for monetary reasons rather than to enrich their legacies. "I get it, man! The boys gonna go pick that check up. It's like a gold mine, man!" 

Speaking of lucrative contracts, it's no secret Punk was paid handsomely by AEW, and Booker is convinced "The Second City Savior" was willing to leave money on the table just to exit a toxic situation. "That was not a good environment for CM Punk," Booker said of Punk's AEW tenure. "It seemed like nothing but bumps on the road from day one. That's not me saying whose fault it was, but it seemed like nobody could get along."