CM Punk Welcomes Formerly Injured Star Back To WWE Following Raw Return

This past week's "WWE Raw" saw the return of WWE NXT Women's Champion Kairi Sane to WWE television after a few months on the sidelines, and she was welcomed back by CM Punk.

Ahead of this week's show, Punk posed with Sane in the ring and added the caption, "Welcome back." WWE announced a few hours ahead of "Raw" that Sane was in Greenville, South Carolina, to make her return to the ring after a five-month absence. Sane was later added to a triple threat match involving Rhea Ripley and Zoey Stark, with the winner earning a spot in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. 

The match was Sane's first since the December 2, 2024 edition of "Raw," where she had then teamed with IYO SKY to face the duo of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Sane was supposed to be a part of the Intercontinental Championship tournament back in December, but her injury forced her to pull out of the qualifying match. 

Sane's return match, which was also a qualifying match, was mired by injury as Stark seemingly suffered a knee injury after Stark's missile dropkick on Sane didn't go as planned, and she was escorted to the back. Ripley won the match after landing a Riptide on Sane and earned a spot in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match that will take place on June 7, 2025.

Punk, meanwhile, made a cameo appearance at the end of "Raw," coming to the aid of Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, who were attacked by Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker.