CM Punk is already back on the shelf

CM Punk will be missing Wrestlemania 40 after tearing his triceps during the men’s Royal Rumble match.

The 45-year-old is expected to undergo surgery and could miss 4-6 months of action. Punk was likely headed toward a match against Seth Rollins on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

The injury appeared to occur after Drew McIntyre hit Punk, who entered the match at No. 27, with a Future Shock DDT. The rumble was the so-called Best in the World’s first televised match since coming back to WWE.

“WrestleMania XL, I guess it’s not in the cards. ... There’s always next year,” Punk told ESPN.

Punk returned to the WWE at November’s Survivor Series premium live event. His Rumble appearance came 10 years to the day that he left the company. He was a two-time WWE champion and three-time World Heavyweight champ. The two-time Money in the Bank Winner also held the ECW, Intercontinental, and tag team belts (with Kofi Kingston).

Perhaps his most famous moment was his 2011 “pipe bomb.”

After retiring in 2014, Punk spent seven years fighting and training in the UFC before coming back to wrestling with All Elite Wrestling from 2021-23.

The Second City Saint won the world title twice, but his time in AEW was marred by injuries and controversies. He was infamously part of “ Brawl Out” and was later fired with cause after a backstage altercation backstage with Jack Perry during the All In at Wembley Stadium in London.

“My goal and my dream ever since I was a little kid has been to main event WrestleMania, but maybe it’s never going to happen,” Punk said. “It’s a bump in the road ... I’ve overcome adversity many times in the past.”