CM Punk bolted the WWE in January 2014 and never looked back.
The "Best in the World" was openly frustrated about his role within the company and opted to leave prior to his contract expiring. He has since signed with UFC, but his MMA debut continues to get pushed back due to myriad setbacks.
While it's certain Punk will one day enter the Octagon, it's unknown (and doubtful) if he'll ever grace the squared circle with his presence again. It's quite obvious based on his comments on his friend Colt Cabana's podcast during Thanksgiving 2014 that Punk was very furious with the WWE at the time of his departure.
Freddie Prinze Jr., the actor and former creative writer for the WWE, was very much in the loop at the time of Punk's quitting. Prinze revealed just how frustrated Punk was, while pointing out how disconnected Vince McMahon and the creative team were to what the fans wanted back then.
"My personal feeling was, you know, as a company it was discovered a little too late," Prinze told GQ of Punk's popularity. "After frustration settles in, there's a certain point as an employee of any company-even when they say to you, 'You really are great,' you're kind of like, 'Yeah, well thanks, but I'm out of here.' That's kind of what that relationship became."
That disconnect still exists today as it took a groundswell of fan revolt to push Daniel Bryan to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2014 and the company continues to shove Roman Reigns down its fan's throats despite their reactions.
Prinze also said it was fascinating from a creative perspective to see the real-life hostility play out in storylines.
"But that relationship became the actual story being told in the ring," he said. "All those promos that him and Vince McMahon would have in the ring together, that was all real stuff. That wasn't anything that anyone wrote, that was them debating in the ring. And people knew it was real! They knew they were saying real things and that it wasn't a TV show right there anymore."
The frustration eventually boiled over and it's likely that even if Punk was promised the moon, a return to McMahon's organization would be a long shot.
As Prinze suggested, the WWE actually started to realize what they had in Punk, but the former WWE Champion opted to leave anyway.
Now, he's onto the UFC and it's unlikely he ever sets foot in a WWE ring again, though anything can happen.
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