9 months ago
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WWE
CM Punk was only a single entrant away from cementing his place in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 40, but got ruled out of the event entirely after he sustained torn triceps during the Royal Rumble match. The Rumble runner-up appeared on "WWE Raw" to confirm the injury and thus his impending absence, dashing perhaps his strongest chance of being in the main event of WrestleMania opposite Seth Rollins, in a teary-eyed promo. Backstage, he shared a moment with Rumble winner Cody Rhodes, encouraging his counterpart to finish his story as he brought him in for a hug. A red-faced Punk opened up on the sadness he felt during a video posted to WWE's social media, but explained it wasn't the injury that brought tears to his eyes.
"I'm very careful about saying where you work is your family. Because I think your family is your family, where you work is your job. But it's been a great support system, and just certain looks from certain people I get, then I start crying again. Cody's one of them. He's a great dude. This locker room is everything the business is supposed to be, it's everything the business was sold to me as being and it's remarkable. That's why I'm so sad. I'm not sad I hurt my arm, I'm sad I'm temporarily out of this amazing situation," Punk said.
"This locker room is everything this business is supposed to be" ❤️ @CMPunk https://t.co/b8D5qnk33W pic.twitter.com/P7mgHYnA8d
— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2024
Punk only recently re-emerged in WWE after a surprising cameo at Survivor Series in November. The return marked just shy of a decade since he walked out of the promotion, as well as just months after his firing from rival promotion AEW after originally returning to wrestling in 2021. His injury looks to put him out for most of 2024.
