CM Punk Return, Best and Worst Booking Decisions of 2023 WWE Survivor Series Results

CM Punk is back and his return at Saturday's Survivor Series was one of several booking decisions from the course of the premium live event that instantly became topics of conversation in the wake of the show.

Joining Chicago's favorite sun were Bayley's stellar night and Randy Orton's return, among others.

Where do they sit on the fine line that separates the best and worst booking of a particular show?

Find out with this recap of the November 25 extravaganza.

Best: Bayley Does Her Best, Falls Short

Entering Survivor Series, it was abundantly clear that Bayley's grasp on the leadership of Damage CTRL was loosening with every passing week and the return of Kairi Sane, and the introduction of Asuka to the faction, only made its founder expendable.

Saturday night in Chicago, perhaps in a last-ditch effort to preserve her role at the forefront of the group, Bayley showed up and showed out.

The Role Model turned in one of the best performances of her career, breaking up pins all over the ring to save the match for her team while taking considerable punishment from the likes of Shotzi, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Bianca Belair.

Faced with an unenviable numbers disadvantage, Bayley succumbed to a Kiss of Death from Belair and an uranage through a table by Lynch, losing the match and likely sealing her fate with teammates Sane, Asuka, Dakota Kai, and WWE Women's Champion Iyo Sky.

Where does that leave her moving forward? Even she does not know, as evidenced by the above interview.

Should she split from her teammates, a creative decision that looks more like a foregone conclusion than not, expect Bayley to turn babyface for the first time in over three years and battle them in a long storyline that could easily culminate in Philadelphia at WrestleMania.

Whether that happens remains to be seen but what is not in doubt is that Bayley delivered big time Saturday and only served to solidify her status as one of the best and most influential women's wrestlers of this generation.

Worst: Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee Is the Shortest Match on the Show

Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar having the shortest amount of time on the card is less a result of bad booking and more the outcome of a jam-packed show, but that does not mean this writer was not still disappointed that they did not get to have the show-stealing match they are more than capable of delivering.

With just over seven minutes to work with, the luchadors delivered a solid match that highlighted Escobar's elevating heel persona and the lightning-quick arsenal that Lee possesses.

It was but a taste of what they are capable of without the tight restraints of a short run time.

This will hardly be their one and only match. Both are poised to be big pieces of the WWE puzzle for years to come and have been positioned favorably over the last month. Their pushes have only just begun and as long as they continue to rise to the occasion, they will have many more chances to wow audiences in bigger, more important, and longer matches.

Perhaps as soon as Friday night on SmackDown.

Best: Randy Orton's Late Arrival

There is no denying that the decision to book Randy Orton in a late-arriving angle only intensified the fans' chants for CM Punk. If one believes that makes the booking decision a bad one, so be it.

What the late arrival did was make Orton's first appearance on WWE in 18 months a more impactful one than if he had walked out on stage and proceeded to stand in a cage for 30 minutes.

Instead, he gets the hero's welcome, hitting the ring in time to take the fight to Judgment Day and spark the babyface comeback that allowed his team to score the win.

It was a great return, one that blew the roof off the historic Allstate Arena, and a reminder that no matter how long he was gone, a legendary Superstar of his stature and prestige will always be welcomed back warmly and affectionately.

As we saw later Saturday night though, under the right circumstances and in the correct spot, the reaction can be even greater.

Worst: No Follow-Up to Orton-Uso Tension

Orton's presentation Saturday night was damn near perfect, with one exception.

At one point, he teed up an RKO but turned and faced Jey Uso, teasing that he would drop the man responsible for putting him out of action 18 months earlier.

Instead, the two would go on to work together toward a victory.

It was an odd choice for two guys involved in this overarching Bloodline story, to just put it behind them after it appeared as though The Apex Predator was about to level Main Event Jey with his finisher.

It will be interesting to see where things head from here, or if it is even revised at all. Given the attention to detail paid to the Bloodline saga, it would only be appropriate if Orton and Uso crossed paths once more and ironed out their differences, be it in a promo or between the ropes.

If for no other reason than completion's sake.

Best: CM Punk Closes the Show

Never has the phrase "never say never" been more appropriate than the moment that the camera went wide and a familiar name flashed on the video screens inside Allstate Arena, followed by the opening riff of Living Colour's "Cult of Personality."

The images of CM Punk stepping through the curtain and out into the WWE Universe, amid a deafening ovation, will forever be etched in the minds of fans who remember his departure from the company in 2013 and all of the tension and disdain the sides had expressed between them in the wake of it.

It is not a stretch to suggest that Punk's return was one that would never happen. There were hard feelings on both sides and after some of the inflammatory comments made by Punk toward his former employer, it felt rather unlikely that particular bridge could be rebuilt.

But it was.

Punk returned Saturday night, basking in the adulation of his hometown fans while simultaneously living the surreality of reappearing under the WWE banner. He did not target anyone, did not express his reasons for returning or what his first step would entail. He merely came through the curtain, reminded fans it was clobbering time, and the show went off the air.

It was a perfect cliffhanger from WWE, one that will keep fans talking and demand that they tune into Raw Monday night to hear what he has to say.

A great decision by Triple H, who is rapidly developing a reputation as a guy who rebuilding those aforementioned bridges. He did so previously with the Ultimate Warrior, Bruno Sammartino, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and now with Punk.