CM Punk has confirmed reports that he is injured.
The Royal Rumble on January 27th saw CM Punk return to a WWE ring for the first time in over a decade. Entering at number 27, the star found himself face to face with Cody Rhodes as the final two participants in the bout.
In the end, Cody Rhodes was victorious, leaving a devastated Punk without the guarantee of the WrestleMania main event he so badly wanted. According to recent reports, Punk was scheduled to face World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 despite Rollins’ recent injury. Unfortunately, this will no longer be taking place.
As reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Punk was injured during the Royal Rumble, likely when taking a Futureshock DDT from Drew McIntyre. Punk was seen grabbing his arm and according to the report said “My triceps” when he was being checked on.
PWInsider confirmed the injury, stating that Punk is indeed believed to have suffered a torn triceps. According to PWInsider, the severity of the tear hasn’t been confirmed, but the belief is that he’s headed for surgery, which would keep him out of action for 4-6 months. The report also notes that Punk’s left arm is the one affected and would be a new injury; he suffered a torn triceps in his right arm while working for AEW.
CM Punk Confirms WrestleMania Absence
With Punk still advertised to appear on the January 29th episode of Raw, fans awaited the update from the man himself. Walking to the ring with his right arm in a sling, Punk looked emotional as he was about to deliver the news that no one wanted to hear.
The former World Champion confirmed that he tore his right tricep and that he would miss WrestleMania. Punk continued, stating that he didn’t want the fans to feel sorry for him, referencing a friend of his who is suffering from cancer and is fighting harder than he ever could, being one of the few individuals who are truly the real Best in the World.
Punk referenced the previous adversity he has overcome and made a vow that he would main event a future WrestleMania before being interrupted by Drew McIntyre. Although most were sympathetic to Punk missing out on the biggest match of the year, McIntyre had a different view. Although The Scottish Warrior can relate to the struggle that Punk is going through, McIntyre stated that he prayed that Punk would get injured and that he made Punk a target in the Royal Rumble.
McIntyre vowed to live Punk’s dream instead, to which Punk responded that he would rehab the injury and McIntyre would be his first target. McIntyre attacked Punk, targeting the injured arm before Sami Zayn made the save. It should be noted that McIntyre is still yet to re-sign with WWE and his contract will expire before Punk’s projected return date.
With Rollins seemingly without a challenger for WrestleMania, the World Heavyweight Champion took matters into his own hands later in the night. As Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes discussed his victory 2 days prior, Rollins interrupted The American Nightmare to make a compelling argument that Rhodes should choose him as Champion instead of Roman Reigns.
In another concerning update, another WWE star is dealing with a fracture.
In regards to WrestleMania, WWE are implementing a change.
Inside The Ropes would like to wish CM Punk a full and speedy recovery.