It’s worth noting that while WWE plugged “WWE Backstage” multiple times during SmackDown last night, they only promoted Renee Young, Booker T, and Edge as appearing. As we’ve been reporting, CM Punk will also be appearing on the show but WWE is no longer announcing or promoting his appearances because Vince McMahon wants nothing to do with him at this point.
We previously reported here on eWn that CM Punk has been making very limited appearances on “WWE Backstage”. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this is due to Vince McMahon and WWE. According to sources, Vince McMahon doesn’t want to do business with him at all. WWE officials are said to be “very negative” on the idea of bringing back Punk despite his appearances on “WWE Backstage”. Internally, McMahon has named CM Punk and Alberto El Patron (Del Rio) as people he doesn’t want to work with at the current time.
With that being said, WWE originally allowed the idea of CM Punk appearing on “WWE Backstage” as a concession as they didn’t want to give off any negative vibes with their new deal with FOX. CM Punk appearing on “WWE Backstage” was something that FOX wanted, not WWE, and Punk’s deal is exclusively through FOX. The company agreed that he could appear on the show but it should be limited to one show per month. For what it’s worth, Paul Heyman and others have pushed hard for CM Punk to be brought back but Vince McMahon has basically said “no way”. Even CM Punk’s agent tried to open a line of communication with WWE, but that was denied.
While some had argued that a one-time appearance for CM Punk at WrestleMania would help business, they were told that Punk “devalued” himself by returning on “WWE Backstage”. The ratings have also been less than stellar, even when CM Punk is on the show.
