Not only did CM Punk make his WWE return on last night’s Raw, but the Second City Saint is the new WWE Champion.
With Raw taking place from Chicago’s Allstate Arena, there was plentiful speculation that Punk might return in his hometown, marking a first appearance since the Raw after WrestleMania 42. However, going into Raw, the advertised main event was Sami Zayn defending the WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes.
As Raw opened with Sami arriving at the arena and having a brief backstage interaction with Rhodes, that was interrupted by Gunther, who swiftly powerbombed the American Nightmare through a nearby table and then kicked a car door into his head, leaving Cody bloodied. Throwing the Zayn vs. Rhodes main event up in the air, we’d eventually see medical staff deem Cody Rhodes unfit to compete, though Raw General Manager Adam Pearce confirmed that Sami Zayn would still be defending his WWE Title that night, and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said he was going to make a phone call.
When the main event rolled around, it was indeed CM Punk coming out to face Sami Zayn, with the two putting on an excellent 20-minute match that culminated in Sami missing a Helluva Kick, Punk hitting his own Helluva Kick, and then putting the Last Real Good Guy down with the GTS. Post-match, the Straight-Edge Superstar called back to his famous Money in the Bank 2011 win as he blew a kiss and headed into the crowd.
In further callback to Money in the Bank 2011, CM Punk was quick to take to Instagram to show the WWE Championship in his refrigerator, which is exactly the same as what he did when he defeated John Cena for the WWE Title back at that MITB event.
