Through all of the “What If?” situations that we’ve given with Punk and what he would have done if “Brawl Out” didn’t happen, the one thing that probably wouldn’t have happened (at least not right away) is that he wouldn’t have gone back to WWE.

Think about all of the moments that Punk has been involved in since returning to WWE. The initial shock at Survivor Series 2023, the feud with Drew McIntyre, being involved in John Cena’s retirement tour, headlining night one of WrestleMania 41, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, none of that happens if “Brawl Out” doesn’t go down. Even the recent return of AJ Lee to WWE probably doesn’t happen if Punk stays with AEW, and a return to wrestling for her would have actually been more likely in AEW than in WWE. On the AEW side, Punk’s eventual confrontation with Jack Perry wouldn’t have happened either, meaning that the “Brawl In” footage doesn’t air, and AEW doesn’t get critically panned by fans for the stunt.

Going back and watching the full clip of Punk from the All Out scrum, aside from the tirade about Colt Cabana sharing a bank account with his mother, you can genuinely see that Punk cared about being in AEW. He cared about helping the company grow, that’s effectively the whole reason why he was so upset because he felt The Elite were jeopardizing the company’s growth. Punk knew, and probably still knows now, that AEW existing is important for the wrestling business as a whole and wanted to help AEW, meaning that for as much tension as there was backstage in AEW at the time, Punk would have easily kept everything bottled up, stayed with AEW, and eventually everything would have been handled more professionally.

If Punk achieved everything he wanted to in AEW, there is every chance he would have eventually joined WWE, and an eventual confrontation with The Elite could have easily happened as well, but “Brawl Out” was the point of no return where no matter how much he cared about AEW, Punk simply couldn’t stay in the company any longer. CM Punk and AEW seemed like the stuff that dreams were made of, but thanks to “Brawl Out,” all that could have been with Punk and AEW will remain a dream for fans around the world.