Former AEW star CM Punk made a sensational shock appearance to begin the WWE NXT Deadline 2023 event alongside Shawn Michaels.
The pair had been teasing the appearance pretty much all day, as Punk continues to play up his ‘free agent’ status and whether he might sign for RAW, SmackDown or NXT.
The appearance of Punk, which took place at around 1 AM GMT, coincided with the start time for AEW Collision, a show that he was originally the ‘face’ of.
The question that fans are now asking is whether or not this was a deliberate “FU” to AEW by getting Punk, who normally would not be anywhere near NXT, to open the show tonight. We’ll have to wait and see on that one when the ratings get released next week.
CM Punk WWE NXT Deadline 2023 Shock Appearance
Here is the full card for tonight:
- WWE NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov vs. Baron Corbin
- Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge (winner becomes the #1 contender for the NXT Title): Dijak vs. Trick Williams vs. Josh Briggs vs. Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate
- Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge (winner becomes the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Title): Tiffany Stratton vs. Lash Legend vs. Blair Davenport vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Fallon Henley
- NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee
- Steel Cage Match: Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James
- Carmelo Hayes vs. Lexis King
- Kickoff Match: Axiom vs. Nathan Fraszer
The WWE Network makes it easy for fans in the UK to watch this extravaganza back on demand from the comfort of their living rooms.
Available for a monthly fee of just £9.99 on a rolling contract, the network offers live streams of all WWE Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Money in The Bank, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
Fans in the United States can also watch the full event back in full via Peacock, the streaming service from NBC that is available from $5.99 a month (+tax) or $59.99 per year (+tax).
