"Where he belongs"- The Shocking Move CM Punk Nearly Made

CM Punk could have shaken the very core of the wrestling world with a move he nearly made.

The professional wrestling fans had to wait for a decade to see CM Punk back in WWE . The Best in the World made a shocking resurgence at the end of the 2023 WWE Survivor Series Premium Live Event. Since then, he has been a top fixture for their television programming and major PLEs. However, it could have been a completely different scenario had Punk decided to make a different decision. In fact, he was close to exploring a different direction, as revealed by a top veteran.
What decision was CM Punk nearly about to make regarding his wrestling career?Former TNA President Scott D'Amore reflected back at the time he was negotiating with CM Punk to sign him to TNA Wrestling . This was after his exit from AEW in the summer of 2023. D'Amore revealed that Punk was a thorough professional during that time and was interested in joining the promotion. However, things did not formalize and Punk ultimately returned to WWE. D'Amore spoke about this in his D'Amore Drop column on Yahoo! Sports' Uncrowned.

He said, "It wasn’t a well-kept secret that I tried to sign Phil to TNA after things with AEW fell apart. I knew it was a long shot, I knew I was asking him to work in smaller arenas than he had in a long time. He listened; he was interested. He never big-timed TNA once, and he conducted himself the way we’d all wish a professional would. Ultimately, he went back to WWE, which, of course, is where he belongs."

Scott D'Amore comments on trying to sign CM Punk to TNA after his AEW departure, before he returned to WWE:

It wasn’t a well-kept secret that I tried to sign Phil to TNA after things with AEW fell apart. I knew it was a long shot, I knew I was asking him to work in smaller… pic.twitter.com/8zaR8UafzJ

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) May 22, 2025

CM Punk in TNA Wrestling could have been a game-changer for the wrestling promotion and would have sent shockwaves across the industry landscape. However, that route can still be explored now that WWE and TNA have entered into a multi-year agreement for talent exchange and collaborations. Moreover, CM Punk himself was seen recently training with TNA World Champion Joe Hendry. So it will be interesting to see if WWE chooses to let Punk make a one-off appearance in TNA Wrestling moving forward.

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