CM Punk Talks WWE Survivor Series; Latest Rumors on Roman Reigns and SummerSlam 2024 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Punk Plays Coy About WWE Return Rumors

When asked this week about the possibility of returning to WWE for next month’s Survivor Series premium live event in his hometown of Chicago, CM Punk seemingly avoided giving a straight answer.

During an interview with 670 The Score (h/t WrestlingInc’s Ross Berman), the topic of Punk’s availability for Survivor Series came up, and Punk cracked a joke about the event’s strong ticket sales, saying, “I think it’s sold out. I think tickets are hard to get.”

When pressed on the possibility of him showing up at Survivor Series, Punk did not definitively dismiss it, but he also made it clear that he is focused on other priorities, including his dog recovering from an injury:

“I have an injury in the family. My dog [Larry] blew his little dog ACL. I’m literally just spending my time with him. I know that sounds a little crazy, but he is my son, and I take care of him and treat him as such. Everything’s kind of stopped. I’m fortunate to be able to just take time off from everything, I’ve canceled a couple of things I have coming up.”

After an alleged backstage altercation with “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry in late August at All In, Punk was released from his AEW contract, making him a free agent two years after he initially joined the company.

That has naturally led to speculation that Punk could return to WWE for the first time since he left the company in 2014, but recent reports have suggested it won’t happen, at least not in the near future.

Earlier this month, Fightful Select (h/t PWMania) reported that while Punk sent out feelers to gauge WWE’s interest, company representatives made it clear that they were not in talks with Punk.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) followed up with a report that WWE turned Punk down, although a source stressed, “There’s no such thing as ‘no forever’ when it comes to WWE.”

It is always possible that WWE is setting up a smokescreen to throw people off the scent of Punk showing up at Survivor Series, or it could truly be a case of WWE not wanting Punk right now and possibly revisiting it in the future.

Whatever the case, Punk showing up at Survivor Series will be a massive talking point leading up to the show, and there will be at least some level of disappointment among fans if it doesn’t happen even though every recent report has suggested that it won’t.

Reigns Reportedly Not Scheduled to Wrestle at Survivor Series

Despite Survivor Series being one of WWE’s annual tentpole events, arguably the company’s biggest stars reportedly isn’t scheduled to be part of the card.

According to Meltzer (h/t Wrestle Ops), undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns is not planned for a match at Survivor Series, and after his match against LA Knight at Crown Jewel, he is not expected to compete at another premium live event until Royal Rumble in January 2024.

Following his successful title defense against Jey Uso at SummerSlam in August, Reigns took some time off, but he recently returned to enter into a rivalry with Knight.

Knight was involved with The Bloodline and teamed with John Cena to beat Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso at Fastlane, and Reigns didn’t take kindly to The Megastar sticking his nose in Bloodline business.

Two weeks ago, Reigns and Knight had a war of words, and The Tribal Chief hit Knight with a devastating spear after Knight defeated Sikoa in a singles match. With that, their title bout at Crown Jewel was made official.

While it would be fairly surprising for Reigns to not be included on the Survivor Series card, it could be a case of WWE wanting the expected WarGames match to headline the event.

If that is the case, then rather than forcing Reigns into a different spot on the card, leaving him off and building a longer-term story could be a better option.

Regardless of Reigns’ involvement, Survivor Series promises to be a massive event, and it could set the stage for what Reigns will be doing on the road to WrestleMania.

Cleveland Reportedly Leading Candidate to Host SummerSlam 2024

Multiple cities are interested in hosting SummerSlam 2024, but one has reportedly emerged as a front-runner.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Berman), Cleveland is the leader in the race to host next year’s SummerSlam, and sources indicated that the city will “likely” end up securing the honor.

It isn’t yet a lock, though, as “several” cities reportedly remain under consideration to hold one of WWE’s biggest events.

If Cleveland does land SummerSlam, it isn’t yet clear if the show would take place at Cleveland Browns Stadium or Progressive Field, which is the home venue of the Cleveland Guardians.

Each of the past three SummerSlams have occurred at NFL stadiums in Las Vegas, Nashville and Detroit, respectively, which suggests Cleveland Browns Stadium would be the most likely venue.

Cleveland played host to SummerSlam one other time back in 1996, but that took place in Gund Arena, which was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ home venue, and it only allowed for about 17,000 people to attend.

If SummerSlam 2024 is held at Cleveland Browns Stadium, the event could possibly accommodate over 70,000 fans.

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