After much speculation, wrestler Phil “CM Punk” Brooks made his return to WWE on Saturday night at the Survivor Series premium live event in his hometown of Chicago. The return of Punk to WWE television put a bow on a record-setting night for the promotion.
Despite no numbers being made public from WWE or NBC, it appears that Saturday night’s show was the most-watched edition of the PLE on record according to both Andrew Zarian of Wrestling Observer and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
Additionally, social media video views of CM Punk’s return to the wrestling organization topped more than 20 million in the 24 hours after the event.
Survivor Series is considered one of the crown jewel premium live events in WWE in addition to Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and Summer Slam.
Punk returned to WWE after being let go from competitor AEW a few months ago. He originally left the organization in the mid-2010s citing mistreatment by the promotion’s medical staff and creative differences with then-WWE owner and chairman Vince McMahon and now-chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
Brooks had a brief stint as a fighter in UFC before joining AEW in 2021.
