Grain of salt and all that, but Ibou from Wrestlepurists on one of the streams last night said a "major name in WWE has already reached out to Punk"
Also discussed Meltzer and Alvarez talking. Said Dave said it was up to HHH and Nick Khan (Duh obviously) but Dave said people "he knew in the locker room dont want him back (Also Duh) but that its not their call". Of course they are people in their that want him back
They all theorized on WP he might be included as a pre-order bonus or have a big rollout for WWEK 2k4 like Golberg, Sting, Warrior etc but Im like its cutting it close to time depending on when they are readying it (though nowadays they drop the game in the top of the year instead of the holidays of the year before so maybe theres time?)
They think he'll be part of the game and then he'll have a Mania match and then after that both sides will asses to see where he goes forward (So basically like Goldberg in 2016/2017). Remember this last part is theorizing not actually any info but its an educated guess
Also talked about this past Wrestlemania and a year ago...there was a belief when Punk might have seeked a buy out after Brawl Out like reported than Punk would come in to WWE and Ibou claims he heard from people Austin trained again in Nov/Dec thinking he might have another smoke and mirrors match with Punk despite WWE not saying anything but just being sure (
) and when it wasnt happening Steve was like "Well gawd dang kid what am I doing all this for" and stop training lolol
Ibou also talked about what he heard about Punk's exit. Said basically he was locked in and focus on making Collision a great show and then around week 9 he was checked out (which they think timing wise lines up with the Hangman comment in the ring and all the leaks coming out about who he was banning and the meeting with the Elite being cancelled...basically that one week where everything snowballed and at that point he wasnt trying to get fired but he didnt care if he was) and immediatley it was reflected on the quality of the product of the show (so the next 2 weeks).
Said he went from being hyped and walking around tellng people backstage ideas, agenting, producer to then being like "Yeah sure whatever" and deferring to others for ideas (Tony Khan). They thought Punk did that thing dressed as the Golden Vampire vs Joe thats an example. They never got a proper Joe vs Punk promo battle in the ring cause he checked out and was like "Whatever just put me in a match and I'll attack him fukk it"
Said he was in an "awful place" the week of All In London and contemplated retirement. Said everyone in AEW was shocked and caught off guard by the firing (Pro and Anti and Neutral Punk)....but Punk himself and his camp were not surprised at his firing and that on the day of All in after it happened Punk knew it (Partly because he told Tony he quit anyway)