Two weeks ago, CM Punk made a huge impact in the pro wrestling world with his shocking return at WWE Survivor Series. Last Monday, Punk appeared on RAW and did the “I’m home” promo. Punk’s RAW appearance helped boost the ratings.
CM Punk has been advertised for this Friday’s SmackDown. More than 1,000 tickets have been distributed for the show since Punk’s announcement.
Never before have Bobby Lashley and CM Punk been in the same time period in WWE. Lashley departed WWE in 2008 during Punk’s World Heavyweight Title run. CM Punk walked out of the company in 2014, and Lashley returned to WWE four years later.
In an interview with Steve Fall of WrestlingNews.co, Bobby Lashley was asked about CM Punk’s WWE return. Lashley said that some people in WWE were against Punk’s comeback.
“I spoke with some of the guys that know him [CM Punk]. I got mixed feelings. Some people were very against it, some people were, ‘Ah you know, whatever.’ But you know, it’s a land of opportunity. So, if he comes back and he helps out the show, and that’s the business side of it…”
Bobby Lashley said that he hopes CM Punk will prove his loyalty to the company.
“For integrity purposes, I understand he has a big name, he’s coming back. And he’s gonna do some big numbers, but I hope they make him kind of work for some of the stuff. I hope he’s not one of the people that ‘Oh okay, he comes back, gonna win the [Royal] Rumble, we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do that.’ I hope they give him an opportunity to kind of prove his loyalty to the business and some of the people in there just to let everybody know, some of the naysayers, some of the people that aren’t too happy about him being there. I hope he has his opportunity to work his way back up to the top and not just be given everything, because maybe he negotiated a good contract that allowed him to do that.”