WWE: CM Punk Matches Set for Two Holiday Tour House Shows Events, Update on Current Talks for New RAW TV Deal, More News

CM Punk’s First Matches Announced for Two WWE Holiday Tour House Show Events Later This Month

WWE is currently advertising that CM Punk will be making his official return to the ring at their 2023 Holiday Tour house show event on December 26th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. CM Punk is currently scheduled to face off against Dominik Mysterio in a singles match at the event.

JUST ANNOUNCED: CM Punk will be live at The Garden on Dec 26 for his first match in WWE in over 9 years as he goes one on one with ‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio at the @WWE LIVE Holiday Tour.

Limited tickets remain: https://t.co/SlyuvVKOaa pic.twitter.com/Fx3kvhYQQr

— MSG (@TheGarden) December 12, 2023

WWE is also currently advertising that Punk will also be competing at their upcoming 2023 Holiday Tour house show event on December 30th at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California. Punk is also currently scheduled to face Mysterio at this upcoming event as well.

JUST ADDED! @CMPunk will face ‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio at the @WWE Live Holiday Tour on Saturday, December 30!

Grab 🎟️ while you still can: https://t.co/rmKLhir7p7 pic.twitter.com/osU7jqVNpJ

— The Kia Forum (@thekiaforum) December 12, 2023

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Update on WWE’s Current Talks for New TV Deal for WWE RAW

As noted before, WWE signed a new television deal with USA Network this past September for their SmackDown brand and a new television deal with The CW this past November for their NXT brand leaving just their RAW brand as the only notable brand left without a new deal.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that WWE’s current talks for a new television deal for their RAW brand has “changed greatly” in recent weeks. Meltzer reported that WWE’s signing of CM Punk to bring him back to the company has become a huge selling point for their negotiations with others.

Things are changing greatly. Let's just say things changed greatly with Raw negotiations from a few weeks ago. And Punk is a huge part of the selling point.

— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) December 12, 2023

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WWE News & Notes

Jade Cargill announced on Instagram that her mother passed away on Tuesday following a battle with cancer.

CM Punk reportedly was in attendance backstage at Tuesday’s NXT show at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, according to Fightful Select. It was reported that Punk was at the Performance Center all day on Tuesday and was also giving feedback to talent on their matches.

Besides CM Punk, wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr. reportedly was in attendance backstage at Tuesday’s NXT show, according to PWInsider.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that NXT talents Von Wagner, Elektra Lopez, and Edris Enofe were all in attendance backstage at this past Monday’s RAW show in Cleveland, Ohio. Johnson reported that all three competed in matches that were taped for this week’s Main Event show prior to the start of RAW.

As noted before, the December 11th episode of WWE RAW drew 1,466,000 viewers and a 0.46 key demographic rating. Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the quarter featuring CM Punk and Seth Rollins’ promo segment was the most watched quarter hour of the show at 1,880,000 viewers and a 0.62 rating. Thurston reported that while this was the only quarter to not feature an ad break, it was up 25% in viewership compared to the previous quarter. Thurston also reported that this quarter’s percentage growth was the highest for any quarter for a RAW shwo since early 2022.

As noted before, Braun Strowman has been out of action for WWE since this past May due to a neck injury and had underwent neck fusion surgery to repair it. In a recent interview with Sportskeeda’s WrestleBinge podcast, Strowman provided an update on his recovery. Strowman stated “So far, good. I just render it cleared to fully start weight-training and stuff like that. Still got a little bit of process left, but don’t worry, the monster’s coming home soon.” Strowman also stated that he is currently does not have a date in mind for his potential return to the ring. Strowman stated “No dates. You’ll know when I come back.” Strowman also stated that he has a new mindset for his career and wanting to honor the legacy of the late Bray Wyatt. Strowman stated “Whoever gets in my way. I have a whole…not a whole different mindset, but my mindset’s a little bit different. The injury, I wasn’t happy about. Life circumstances that happened with Bray, I have something to prove when I come back. I have to keep our legacy as the Wyatt Family alive, and unfortunately, it’s not gonna be good for everybody because The Monster’s coming back.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent Twitch stream session, Lexis King gave his thoughts about his fans calling themselves “Registered Lex Offenders” and why they should scrap that nickname name for his fans. King stated “Yeah, the ‘Registered Lex Offenders’ is a little…as much as I think it’s funny, I think that one has to die. Because we can’t say that on TV. It’s just a little too, you know, I appreciate the creativity, you guys. [Off-screen woman asks what he’s talking about] They call themselves the ‘Lex Offenders,’ yeah. Isn’t that funny?” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

As noted before, former Impact/TNA Wrestling owner Dixie Carter was in attendance backstage at the November 27th WWE RAW show in Nashville, Tennessee. In a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast, co-host and WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard gave his thoughts about Carter’s recent visit to WWE. Prichard stated “I’ve always maintained and loved Dixie. I think she’s a wonderful person and we remain good friends to this day. Reached out, thought it would great since we were going to be in Nashville to invite her to the show and say hello. It was terrific to see her and reconnect and say hello.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Tuesday’s NXT show featured Oba Femi defeating Myles Borne in a First Round match for this year’s NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament. Following his match, WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Femi discussing his strategy for the rest of the tournament. Femi stated “NXT is lacking in one department severely, and that is the department of brute force. Nobody’s brutal anymore. Everybody’s soft, everybody is determined, everybody is trying to get to the end by the soft means. But that is exactly what Oba Femi has to offer. That is exactly what I’m bringing to the Men’s Breakout Tournament. Brute force.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)