CM Punk reportedly off WWE shows, including Sunday’s Sprint Center card

Bad news for Kansas City fans of WWE star CM Punk. The Straight Edge Superstar is off all WWE shows going forward, according the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. All shows would include Sunday afternoon’s card at the Sprint Center.

Punk has been advertised on the Kansas City show in a three-on-one handicap match against the Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins). But the Observer reports that Punk told WWE boss Vince McMahon that he was “going home” to Chicago. 

The Pitch reached out to a WWE spokesperson for comment and will update if we receive a response. 

Could this be a wrestling story line? Of course. This is pro wrestling. But Punk’s contract is coming due in July, and the Observer‘s Dave Meltzer reported that Punk was likely not going to re-sign due to burnout. Punk seemingly acknowledged as much in an interview with MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

“I don’t know,” Punk told Helwani. “Everything’s up in the air. Plus, if I say ‘yes’ and I don’t, then I was lying. If I say ‘no’ and I re-sign, then I was full of shit. I think I’m just going to dance around that question. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.”

Punk was conspicuously absent from WWE’s Monday Night Raw broadcast and also didn’t appear at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings. Punk seemed to offer a farewell note on Twitter Monday morning.

As of now, Punk’s last appearance for the wrestling company was at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in which Punk wrestled for 50 minutes in the 30-man, over-the-top-rope match. 

The Sprint Center website advertises a card of Punk vs. the Shield, John Cena challenging Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt inside a steel cage. Of course, it also says “card is subject to change.” The show is at 1 p.m. Tickets are available here.