CM Punk And The Winners, Losers Of PLE

CM Punk returned to WWE in his hometown of Chicago as WWE continues to pour it on AEW in an increasingly one-sided wrestling war. AEW was at the peak of its powers in 2021. You can argue they were never hotter than when Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole debuted with the company on the same night at AEW All Out 2021 in Chicago. Two years later, in the same city, the returns of Randy Orton and CM Punk on the same night of have rendered AEW a modern-day TNA.

Survivor Series is was the most-watched Survivor Series ever, and going head-to-head with AEW Collision resulted extremely low viewership for AEW Rampage—which aired live on Saturday—and Collision. Per fast national data, Rampage garnered 233,000 total views and just 83,000 in 18-49. AEW Collision garnered 294,000 viewers with 104,000 in 18-49. Last week’s broadcast of Collision, which went head-to-head with SmackDown, drew its lowest viewership ever.

CM Punk joins WWE just in time for WrestleMania season, where WWE will be at full-strength with the likes of Roman Reigns, LA Knight, Logan Paul, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley and a returning Randy Orton. Survivor Series paid off weeks of speculation, and the well-received show set the stage for what should be an exciting several months.

WWE Survivor Series 2023 Winners

CM Punk

CM Punk made his improbable return to WWE last night at Survivor Series and The Allstate Arena in Chicago lost its collective minds. Punk made his dramatic exit from WWE almost 10 years ago, and went on to violently exit AEW in September of this year. With WWE looking to keep its foot on the pedal in a national wrestling war, CM Punk’s return became more of a possibility as the enemy of their enemy is their friend.

WWE already begun teasing a feud between CM Punk and Seth Rollins, as Rollins was (storyline) upset with Punk’s return after Survivor Series went off the air. Some members of the clueless wrestling media, which was completely left in the dark for Punk’s return, actually believed Rollins was legitimately upset. The lack of information provided to the know-it-alls among the wrestling media will only add to the excitement of the CM Punk comeback tour, as evidenced by the legitimately surprising appearance from Punk despite reports that he wouldn’t return.

Damage CTRL

Even though they lost the WarGames match, Damage CTRL shined throughout. As usual, Bayley had no problem letting others shine by taking insane bumps that highlighted her opponents. Iyo Sky, the queen of the WarGames match, had another memorable spot when she dove onto the field with a trash can over her head. Damage CTRL was very much booked like the babyfaces as they had the man disadvantage and produced more entertaining spots.

Damage CTRL will continue to operate as the women’s division’s answer to the Bloodline. After taking a loss, poor Bayley is setting up to be the Sami Zayn.

Seth Rollins

Similar to WrestleMania 38 against Cody Rhodes and WrestleMania 39 against Logan Paul, Seth Rollins will likely have yet another high-profile opponent at WrestleMania 40 in CM Punk. Rollins’ (kayfabe) reaction to CM Punk’s return has gone viral, and their feud is trending toward headlining WrestleMania 40 Night 1. Should this be the case, this would mark Rollins and Punk’s first true WrestleMania main event. Rollins technically main evented WrestleMania 31, but only because he crashed the main event as a Money in the Bank winner.

Randy Orton

Randy Orton’s WWE return wasn’t perfect—for reasons outside of his control—but Allstate Arena treated him like a star despite the overwhelming anticipation for CM Punk. Fans spent the entire WarGames match chanting for Punk, but when Orton showed up, they were hardly disappointed. Fans showered Orton with chants of “holy s—t!” and Orton punctuated his exciting comeback with a dazzling top-of-the-cage RKO on JD McDonagh. Orton’s return was ultimately washed away by CM Punk’s surprise appearance, but overall, it was very well done.

WWE Survivor Series 2023 Losers

Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley is too dominant for her own good. Ripley has not lost a match since May of 2022. That’s the good news. The bad news? WWE has failed to convince fans that she has any legitimate competition during her dominant reign. The WWE women’s division has more than enough talent for WWE to make a concerted effort to build up challengers for Ripley. This includes Zoey Stark, who was essentially another pig to slaughter against Ripley at Survivor Series. Rhea Ripley’s matches generally do not have much heat as fans simply wait for the inevitable. It will take a lot of creativity and effort to change that pattern, but that’s part of the job description for creative.

The Wrestling Media

The wrestling media was kept comletely in the dark for CM Punk’s return and it was wonderful. Everybody from Dave Meltzer to WWE Insider @WrestleVotes reported there were no indications that CM Punk would be in Chicago, only for Punk to show up at Survivor Series.

Wrestling is so much better when surprises are not spoiled ahead of time, and as CM Punk’s return unfolded, the wrestling media continued to be worked by Drew McIntyre storming out of the arena and Seth Rollins (kayfabe) cursing out CM Punk off-air. As the dirtsheets remain on the outside looking in, expect more guesswork gossip from the wrestling tabloids.