CM Punk appeared in a promotional video for UFC Rivals, which airs Sunday June 21 at 8 PM ET on back-to-back episodes. Punk is part of a panel alongside Miesha Tate, Michael Bisping, and Ken Shamrock. The promo appears to have been filmed in recent weeks and shows Punk in noticeably strong physical shape.
On the in-ring return front, Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the current plan is for Punk to return on SmackDown. The reasoning, per Meltzer, is a roster-balancing decision — Raw is already stacked with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Usos, Jacob Fatu, Oba Femi, Logan Paul, and Bron Breakker, while SmackDown’s top tier of Rhodes, Gunther, and Ripley makes more sense as a landing spot. Rhodes vs. Punk has also been discussed as a direction.
Meltzer noted July 6 as a possible return date due to Raw being in Chicago that night — Punk’s hometown — though he acknowledged that is a Raw date and the SmackDown plan is not necessarily affected by it.
There is no confirmed return date.
