CM Punk’s returned to the USA Network this past Monday night on Raw but that does not specifically mean that he has been slotted to be part of the red brand.
PWInsider is reporting that Punk is listed as a “free agent” on the internal WWE roster. Basically, this means that he can appear on both Raw and SmackDown. Of course, we’ve seen wrestlers appear on different brands in the past but for the most part, the rosters are kept separate for most of the year.
In Punk’s case, at least for now, expect to see him on both Raw in SmackDown. Punk seems to be headed toward a feud with Seth Rollins and that appears to be a match that will be saved for WrestleMania so one would expect him to primarily appear on Raw when that storyline kicks off.
Justin Barrasso at Sports Illustrated reported that Punk vs. Roman Reigns is planned after the Rollins feud. At that time, Punk would then appear mostly on the SmackDown brand.
Punk’s return on Monday is a success. His return helped draw 1,884,000 overnight viewers, which is way up from last week’s 1,459,000 overnight number. The key demo was 0.56, up from last week’s 0.49 overnight number. WWE is obviously pleased with that and as we head into WrestleMania season in January, it’s expected that numbers will continue to increase when they no longer have to compete against Monday Night Football.
