In light of his recent All Elite Wrestling firing, it’s actually believed that CM Punk wanted to return to WWE last year.

On Saturday evening, a statement was released by AEW and Tony Khan revealing that the company had come to terms with the release of CM Punk.

The rather surprising news came following the week-long internal investigation into a backstage incident and fight between the former WWE star and Jack Perry at All In at Wembley Stadium.

Why did AEW fire CM Punk?

The altercation was a flare-up of previous tension, as CM Punk is said to have ‘had words’ with the former Jungle Boy during one of the early iterations of AEW Collision.

Jack was set to film a segment that required the use of glass, with the 26-year-old strongly pushing for real glass to be part of the pre-tape.

Punk strongly opposed the suggestion of real glass for the filming, according to Fightful, as the use of it would obviously be highly dangerous, but, he also thought that Perry may have been trying to use the more risky method as a way of not having to come to the following week’s TV.

READ MORE: CM Punk fired by AEW: 44-year-old already 'tried to rejoin WWE twice'As has been the case throughout Punk’s AEW run, a meeting was never set up to discuss any pre-existing tension, and so issues remained as the company’s top talent all shared the same building for All In at Wembley Stadium on August 27.

Here, Jack Perry was unsuccessful in defending his FTW Championship against Hook, but, something he said off the cuff during the match was the start of the domino effect which led to Punk’s firing.

As he brawled with Hook on the stage and entranceway, a limousine was positioned at the top of the ramp which would soon come into use. Perry leaned in towards one of the cameras, knocked on the windscreen of the car and said ‘real glass, cry me a river’, in direct reference to the reports of his issues with the 44-year-old.

It’s now known that Perry did not clear this comment with anyone backstage, with Punk taking such exception to his comments as to get physical with him backstage. As there usually is with a case like this, there were differing perspectives of the incident. nevertheless, the former two-time AEW World Champion was officially fired following an investigation and his future remains in question.

So, now that CM Punk has parted with AEW, many are asking questions over what could be next for the straight-edge star.READ MORE: WWE: Triple H's original plans for John Cena's return leaked

Is CM Punk returning to WWE?

Immediately, many fans may jump to the thought of Punk returning to WWE, though, due to the admitted rocky relationship between himself and both Vince McMahon and Triple H, most would assume that this option is off the table.

However, per Fightful, CM Punk was actually open to returning to the company he called home for over nine years last December, amid another of his AEW backstage conflicts, and actively encouraged for it to happen.

CM Punk and WWE working together has seemed out of the realm of possibility for years, but people close to him say the idea was on the table from his end. After the Brawl Out situation, Punk was on the sidelines following surgery to repair an injury he sustained at All Out 2022. During that time, things were still contentious with AEW and Punk, though he was in contact with Tony Khan. Those close to Punk claim that in December 2022, Punk was open to leaving AEW, and even encouraged the idea so he could make a WWE return.

News that Punk seemed to be open to the idea of returning to WWE, even going as far as to attempt to facilitate a move, will take many fans by surprise.

It’s clarified in the report that there had been no confirmation that AEW were at all considering releasing Punk late last year, or even that WWE would’ve taken him on had he been let go, but the news is interesting nonetheless, there's no denying that.

As always, should anything change regarding CM Punk and his future, GiveMeSport will keep you informed.