Another potential reference made to CM Punk during the 11/24/23 edition of WWE Smackdown

As previously noted, former AEW star CM Punk reportedly wanted to make a WWE return but the company “turned him down” and he’s not expected to be back for now. Despite the reports, fans are still speculating about Punk potentially returning to WWE.

Over the last few months, there were seemingly subtle references to Punk made on WWE television. During the November 24th 2023 edition of WWE Smackdown, announcer Corey Graves said the following line on commentary: “Kevin Owens became a monster to fight the monsters of the world.” Fans on social media took notice that this was potentially a callback to an old promo from Punk. During another segment, Graves said “you know everything they say on the Internet is true” and Michael Cole replied with “Yes, especially what they say on X.”

There was a brief “CM Punk” chant during Bayley’s promo segment with Bianca Belair’s War Games team. There were more chants during the Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch vs. Bayley and Asuka main event.