Triple H Threw Away CM Punk’s Script After WWE Return

CM Punk says Triple H told him what he needed to hear soon after his WWE comeback.

Almost a decade after walking out of the company, Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series 2023. Punk walked out at the end of the night as Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, and Randy Orton celebrated their WarGames win over The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre.

Orton had also only recently returned, having been out of action for 18 months with a back injury, and some believe Punk’s comeback overshadowed The Viper’s first match back.

CM Punk Admits He “Shit All Over Randy Orton’s Moment” At Survivor Series

In a recent interview with SportBIBLE, joked about it, saying he “shit all over Randy’s moment.” Orton got some payback, though, when he and Dominik Mysterio ran into Punk’s promo time soon after.

“I come back and I shit all over Randy’s moment at Survivor Series. Randy’s been gone, he’s rehabbed, he’s got a new spine. He comes back and here’s CM Punk to just step all over it. The following week, he has a match, I think it’s with Dom [Dominik Mysterio], and they go over on their time. It drastically cuts my promo time. We’re all hooting. I’m laughing about it. ‘Whatever, this is fun.’ Whatever I don’t get to say this week, I’ll just say next week, that’s the beauty of doing 52 live shows a year.”

Unusually, Punk had a script for his promo, something Triple H said was “freaking everybody out.”

“I was running around with a piece of paper in my hand that had whatever I was supposed to say. I keep looking at it. Triple H gets up and comes up to me and goes, ‘What are you doing, man? You’re freaking everybody out.’ ‘What do you mean I’m freaking everybody out?’ ‘Nobody here has ever seen you hold a script in your hand and read it like you’re not just going to go out there and say whatever the hell you want.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, well, you know, I’m new around here. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes.’

“He grabbed the piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it out. ‘You’re CM Punk. Just go out there and talk to the people. ‘Right. Right.’ That’s what I needed to hear because I’m trying to move in a certain way and he’s like, ‘No, go be you. That’s why you’re here.’”

Before returning to WWE, Punk had a run in AEW that was plagued by backstage issues and eventually led to his firing for an altercation with Jack Perry at All In 2023. He recently revealed that he almost went back to WWE instead after a meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H in 2018 or 2019, but McMahon “ghosted him” despite them having a handshake deal.