Vince McMahon 'ghosted' a former WWE champion who was fired on the day of his wedding - following a 'handshake agreement' over a stunning return to the company in 2019.
Back in 2014, CM Punk walked out on WWE after feeling "sick, hurt and burned out" having wrestled with a series of serious injuries for an extended period.
He was suspended by the company for two months and a bitter exit ensued, with Punk receiving his termination papers in the post and effectively fired on June 13, 2014 - the day which he tied the knot with partner and former WWE wrestler AJ Lee.
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Punk and WWE were at odds legally before settling matters and McMahon apologised to his former employee in an episode of The Steve Austin Show on the WWE Network and said it was a "coincidence" of when the papers were handed out.
“I would like to apologize,” McMahon said in 2014.
“Sometimes in a big corporation, the legal people don’t necessarily know what talent relations are doing and conversely and Punk got his severance papers on the day he got married. And that was a coincidence. So, I want to personally apologise for that.”
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McMahon had said he was hopeful that the Punk and WWE would work together again but the 'Voice of the Voiceless' rejected the apology and branded it "sincere" and a "publicity stunt" in an appearance on Colt Cabana's 'Art of Wrestling' podcast.
He repeatedly stressed that he was done with WWE and the wrestling on the whole but after a failed stint in UFC, Punk did sit down with McMahon and Triple H in 2019 and it looked as though hatches were buried and a return was on the cards until communication stopped.
Punk, who did make an incredible return to WWE in his hometown of Chicago in 2023 after a controversial spell with rival promotion AEW (All Elite Wrestling), disclosed details of why a comeback didn't happen much earlier.
"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," Punk revealed on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox while promoting the upcoming 'WWE Unreal' series on Netflix.
"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).
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“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. 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, recognized that it’s a business. You don’t want me to take it personally? Just pay me.”
CM Punk did make shocking WWE return
The 46-year-old built bridges again with Triple H - who replaced McMahon in the hotseat when he stepped down over sexual misconduct allegations - after butting heads in his first stint.
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Since coming back into the fold at the 2023 Survivor Series event, has been on a generational return run which included finally main eventing WrestleMania in Las Vegas against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
He renewed his rivalry against John Cena when they squared off for the undisputed WWE title at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia and Punk will compete for gold again at SummerSlam when he vies to win the world heavyweight championship from Gunther.
Topics: WWE, Vince McMahon
Josh Lawless