Backstage News on CM Punk Not Appearing on "Monday Night Raw"

New reports have been published that provide backstage news on CM Punk not appearing on “Monday Night Raw” on March 3. Punk, who was previously labeled as “likely to appear” by a previous report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newslettter, did not make an appearance during the March 3 edition of “Monday Night Raw,” leaving many to believe Punk may be completely done with the company.

During the March 4 episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer discussed the situation and claimed that he was, “lied to.” Meltzer had previously claimed that “one of the biggest stars in the business” had told him that Punk would 100% be on the program, but Punk never appeared, leaving Meltzer to believe he was deliberately lied to.

Meltzer then explains that his source was not anyone that still works for WWE, but is someone that he has trusted for over 20 years and IS a major name in Professional Wrestling. While Meltzer is currently getting accosted by fans near and far in regards to Punk not being on the show after he “said he would be,” Meltzer never claimed that Punk WOULD be on “Monday Night Raw,” but said that his “source” was the one that was saying that Punk was a lock for “RAW.”

Punk was not even discussed for Monday’s program. A report from PWInsider.com claims that a source from WWE Creative told them on Feb. 28 that Punk’s return had never been discussed between the creative team, though he could not rule out him appearing as a surprise. Most WWE personnel had no idea about whether or not Punk would be returning on March 3 until they got to the arena Monday afternoon.

According to the report, not a single script for Monday’s episode was ever written that included Punk appearing on the show. Punk was of course mentioned on the show by Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, subtly by Triple H, and John Cena, but apparently other nods that were supposed to be aimed at Punk were removed from the script just before air.

WWE officials felt like they had to address the Punk situation in Chicago, which is why the show opened with Punk’s music and Heyman’s worked shoot on the ordeal. Officials believed, and rightfully so, that if they had not killed the elephant in the room right off the bat, then “CM Punk” chants would have taken over the show as the night went on.

WWE succeeded in their mission to kill the crowd’s momentum but acknowledging the situation, playing to it with Lesnar, Cena, and Triple H, and taking the concept of “hijacking” the show away. With the reports of fans wanting to “hijack” the program running wild on the internet, WWE Creative members decided to have Daniel Bryan state that he and the WWE Universe were going to hijack the show together and demand Triple H face him at WrestleMania XXX.

While this isn’t what the WWE Universe, and especially not what those trying to actually hijack the show want, the ploy worked and the fans began routing for the Bryan vs Triple H match to happen instead of only being supportive of Bryan being in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.