Highlights

• CM Punk's return to WWE has resulted in high merchandise sales, potentially covering his own pay.
• Kevin Nash claims that Punk generated $600,000 worth of merchandise sales in just the first 24 hours.
• WWE may push Punk to the main event of WrestleMania and give him a title run due to his ability to generate revenue through merchandise sales.

Fans arguing that CM Punk isn't or wasn't a draw need look no further than the recent merchandise numbers Punk has pulled for WWE since his return. According to one source, Punk has sold so much merchandise since coming back, he's almost paying for himself.

During his podcast, Kevin Nash discussed the return of CM Punk to WWE. It's not clear where he's getting his numbers from and Nash has been known to be a bit of a "storyteller", but he's also in the inner circle of some important WWE people, namely Triple H. It's possible the number was said in passing, but Nash noted:

"I think he did $600,000 worth of merchandise like the first 24 hours that he came back. I watched SmackDown last Friday because I knew he was gonna be on. That was the reason I watched. I wasn’t gangbusters over his initial interview that he cut.”

Granted, it's not public knowledge what WWE is paying Punk. Still, that's a huge number and if he's being paid even $2 - $3 million per year, that revenue represents about 20-30% of his yearly pay.. in one day. WWE has to be doing cartwheels over that kind of return on investment. And, considering it's the holiday season, and many days have passed since his return, that number has to be well in excess of $1 million by now.

Punk has shown up on WWE progamming numerous times since his return. Monday's Raw was the first show in a while that he wasn't in attendance. He owns the bragging rights to the most viewed video on WWE's social media content and he's rumored to have brought Warner Bros. back to the negotiating table regarding television rights to WWE programming. The investment in Punk is paying dividends and WrestleMania is right around the corner.

Related

WWE's CM Punk Signing Has Revived A Potential Raw TV Deal With Warner Bros.

Warners Bros. had reportedly withdrawn from the Raw rights race until Punk came back.

WWE Likes To Push Merch Movers

Not that Punk wasn't already going to be in their plans for 2024, but if he's moving this kind of merchandise, it stands to reason that WWE might considering heavily pushing Punk to the main event of WrestleMania and potentially giving him a title run. WWE didn't pull the trigger with LA Knight, but they did give him his first main event match on a PLE against Roman Reigns and he's cemented himself in the main event scene on SmackDown, mostly because he's selling on WWE Shop like crazy.

Is Punk's ability to make WWE money going to be the thing that lets him finish his story?