The Real Reason For CM Punk’s WWE Absence | WWE News

On today's Solo Sunday News, the real reason for CM Punk's WWE absence

There's a backstage update on all-ego Ethan Page, the new AAA general manager is..

And a long-absent AEW star is expected at double or nothing later today

Hello and welcome to World Culture Wrestling. The Solo Sunday News, myself Andrew Pallard

The Solo Sunday News that very much did not nearly get to you today, but I hope you're well

I hope you're good and I hope your weekend is going as well as possible. And if you are here in the UK, I hope you're enjoying a nice, long, sunny bank holiday weekend

Especially if you work in IT. Fair play to Hull City though. Before I go any further, congratulations to Hull

And for certain Middlesbrough fans, watch out for those tigers, innit? Right, starting things off today

And there's a bit of an update on what is going on with CM Punk

Now, CM Punk appeared on the Raw after WrestleMania 42. Of course, he was fresh off losing the World Heavyweight title to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania

And Punk promised that he was not going anywhere. There was a tease of something with Cody Rhodes, be that in the near future or maybe something a little bit further down the line

But since then, CM Punk has not been seen. Actually, that's a lie

In fact, he was seen, but he was seen at the Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano MMA fight for MVP last weekend

Now, of course, that has led to plenty of fan chatter and speculation as to what is going on with CM Punk

I mean, I've even seen some crazy theories out there from some people suggesting that he'd been suspended for that fan altercation during WrestleMania weekend

You know, when he knocked the phone out of someone's hand as they filmed AJ Lee and Bayley, even though Bayley had told the dude, like, stop several times

Yeah, so some people are going to make up crazy stuff for that. And two and two equals 457 or potato in some cases

Per Fightful Selecto, the reason for CM Punk's absence is what is described as a schedule change

Now, added to that, False Finish has been told that Punk is a waiting creative for his return to TV

Basically, his schedule and creative plans were changed after WWE decided to move Gunther over to SmackDown

and that came after moving Jacob Fatou over to Raw to feud with Roman Reigns. So it kind of left, I guess in some ways, kind of left CM Punk as a bit of the odd man out

I mean, this is purely speculation for me, of course, but this also might be tied to those reports that Randy Orton is dealing with a bit of a back issue that caused certain creative changes

I mean, namely, meaning that the whole Cody and Orton program, that been should we say put on hold for now which is the reason why Gunther been moved over to SmackDown to feud with Cody I mean maybe we were meant to get some CM Punk and Gunther stuff after WrestleMania I don know Although to be fair I mean originally on that roar after WrestleMania

it very much thought we were going in an LA Knight and Gunther direction following Mania

But either way, CM Punk is on a bit of a break due to a schedule change

And to be fair, I mean, I said this ahead of time, I kind of expected Punk to naturally take a break after WrestleMania 42

a bit like my obligatory Brett mentioned but a bit like Brett Hart after WrestleMania 12

where you go away for a few months I know at that point there was some uncertainty over Brett's future

but they just kind of go away for a few months come back refreshed

the crowd's going to be a bit more refreshed for you as well and I thought maybe CM Punk might do something like that

where it's just like go away for a couple of months we'll bring you back and do something big with you but then CM Punk got that promo on Raw

where it's like I'm going nowhere I'm going nowhere I'm not flubbing and leaving I guess essentially

and when you look at the I mean, the wider WWE product right now, I mean, they could kind of do with CM Punk

I mean, any wrestling company could kind of do with CM Punk in their corner. But that's a whole conversation for a whole other day

Now, one person who has not been absent from WWE TV right now

in fact, they got themselves a very, very, very well-earned main roster call-up on the Raw after WrestleMania 42

That is all ego Ethan Page. And while he may have come up short on Saturday night's main event last night

which is where he took on Penta for the Intercontinental Championship, It sounds like Orlego is making quite the impression behind the scenes already

I mean, this comes from WrestleVotes here, where Page has been well-received in the company since he arrived in 2024

Described as an, I've got a quote here, extremely respectful and detail-oriented

which is something that's been shown in his work across NXT, across AAA, where he's won half of the AAA mixed tag champs

and also now, of course, on the main roster. I mean, Ethan Page has just been killing it, man

This also says here, this report from WrestleVotes, that he's positioned very well moving forward

And again, even more so considering how quickly he's been on the rise in a relatively short amount of time

I mean, this is somebody who won the NXT title of what? Two, three weeks after arriving? Maybe it was a month

I don't know, but it was very quickly after he landed NXT. He was the NXT champ and he's been the NXT North American champ since then as well

The greatest North American to ever live, of course, apart from Bret Hart, who's watching me from right over there

Hey, Hitman. Yeah, and now of course you look at it now where Ethan Page has already immediately found

himself in the Intercontinental title mix on Raw and I think he very much getting that belt before the summer is out In fact part of me did think he might get it last night But yeah Ethan Page make no bones about it

He will be in Scalettino Champion by the time the summer is over. And the future is incredibly bright, man

This is, it's just also, like I said, it's just very well deserved, very well earned

This is just somebody, a dude, who's busted his backside for years, man. I mean, I first saw him back to the Monster Mafia days

which would then go on to become the North. Just a constantly entertaining, charismatic star

I mean, Ethan Page may not have always been a star, but he's always felt like a star, always carried himself like one

And here he is getting a shot at the big time, the big opportunity. And he feels absolutely 100% ready to grab the opportunity with both hands

which I'm sure he will. And just, yeah, again, the future is incredibly bright for Ethan Page

if you ask me, man. You love to see good things happening to good people

And by all accounts, Ethan Page is a good, good dude. So yeah, much luck to him there

Now, speaking of good dudes, which is quite the transition there, but from one good dude to another

And I'm going to go with the next general manager of AAA. Yes, that has been named now. I have to hype it up for weeks

It was all a case of who will be the new GM. Some people thought maybe JBL

Some people thought maybe Dorian Roldan as a possibility. But instead, as announced last night by AAA president Maricela Pena

it's WWE Hall of Famer, all-round legend, icon, one of the greatest to ever do it

one of the most revolutionary wrestlers in the history of the business. Yes, it is Ray Mysterio, who is the new AAA general manager

which obviously that went down very well with a certain AAA mega campeon

which would be Dominic Mysterio, as well as Dorian Roldan as well, was not exactly happy with this development

And also, I should say, away from that, last night's AAA show had yet more awesomeness between the Americanos too

Those men, El Grande Americano and El Grande Americano 2, just beating the sh** at one another

Again, all ahead of their big mask versus mask match next weekend. I mean, if you ask me right now

genuinely, if you ask me what is my favourite thing in the wrestling business right now

I probably would say this Americano's feud when it's in AAA. I mean, when it's on WWE programming

it's a bit of a different beast. It doesn't hit the same. But yeah, but in Mexico, man

our grande Americano 2 is over like Rover, brother. We're talking Road Warrior Pops, that sort of thing

It's just, it's crazy the reaction this guy gets. and also as well the original grandio maricano is just great at what he does completely detested a proper proper scumbag now switching gears a little bit for our final story of the day I switching gears to AEW ahead of Double or Nothing later today

Now, this comes from Fightful Select, who report that a certain Mr. Mayhem is in town for today's pay-per-view

Yes, Wardlow is in New York ahead of Double or Nothing, where he's expected to be at the event

Now, it is specified here that it's not known whether he'll be making an appearance on screen or not

But we at least know that the big fella will be at the event in some capacity. And for Wardlow, it's a little bit crazy to realise he's not actually wrestled for over two years by this point

Dating back, I looked into it before recording this video. And it's like you date back to March 2024, where he lost to then AW World Champion Samoa Joe

Now, of course, Wardlow did return at Forbidden Door last August. But that return, unfortunately, only lasted for a few weeks

And then he'd suffer a torn pec. I think it was just torn left pec, which would subsequently put him on the shelf

I mean, since then, though, of course, Wardlow has filmed the first season of the American Gladiators reboot

which is that's now premiered on Amazon Prime. And I do need to get around to watching that at some point

I love me a bit of Gladiators, man. The UK reboot that started a couple of years ago. Oh, a lot of fun with that

So, yes, I will be watching the American Gladiators reboot as well. And also, there's a bunch of wrestlers in there

So great. Now, Fightful sources said that Wardlow has been at a number of AEW events lately with AEW Revolution

I think that was specifically mentioned as well. Basically, he's just been backstage at a few events

He gears up to return to the ring. Now, whether he appears at Double or Nothing tonight, again, that remains to be seen

But yeah, the Wardlow has been missed, man. Now, not in terms of like star power necessarily, because at the moment

AEW have a bunch of top stars, whether that's in the men's division, whether that's in the women's division, whether it's the tag teams

I mean, you look at the tag team division, the men's tag team division, and you look at it now and you're thinking

huh, the Motor City Machine Guns will be coming in here soon. and then also maybe The New Day

So yeah, everywhere is stacked. So Wardlow isn't necessarily missed in terms of that star power

but I'm just like, I miss Wardlow because I like to see big meaty fellas

just powerbombing fools and cracking skulls. Now, yes, there are certain other talents that do similar things

but yeah, Wardlow's just got, there's something special about Wardlow, man. He has been missed, so hopefully he's back soon

But either way, he will be at Double or Nothing today. Just whether we see him on screen or not

that is the big question here. And with that, this has been What Culture

wrestling the solo sunday news with myself andrew pollard oh my word it's been a long morning guys

it's been a long morning i'm very much off for some whiskey today but well be well stay safe

and i will catch you next weekend