CM Punk: Latest News and Buzz Surrounding Former WWE Star for Week of Oct. 20

CM Punk can't stay out of the WWE news cycle even when he's not doing anything newsworthy.

While he's enjoying life in retirement, rumors of TNA wanting to bring him in and his reported effect on the Total Divas casting process have emerged. Reports on what his relationship with WWE is like and what Chris Jericho had to say about him created even more headlines.

The Punk story is one in which fans' interest in what he does grows the longer he does nothing.

He hasn't signed with TNA. He hasn't chatted with Y2J. He hasn't improved his standing with WWE.

Even with all that inactivity, there was a wave of Punk-related news reports and interviews this past week. The buzz around the Best in the World is refusing to wane.

Chris Jericho Speaks on CM Punk

Fans aren't the only ones who haven't heard from Punk; Chris Jericho can't even get him to return his calls.

Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

In an interview with Bryan Alvarez on the Figure Four Daily podcast (h/t FanSided), Jericho said of Punk:

"

I don't know really anything about Punk. We used to talk quite often and not really about wrestling stuff. We always had great chemistry, and he's one of my favorite guys to work with. And then when he left the WWE, he never talked to me again. I never heard one peep or squeak or anything from him again. I reached out to him a couple times just about, you know, 'hey, I'm watching the Clash from '78' or whatever and nothing.

"

Punk doesn't do things halfway, it seems. Ignoring Jericho is apparently a part of his plan to distance himself from WWE.

That's an odd choice viewed from the outside. It's not as if he couldn't maintain his relationship with Jericho and still be a retired, former WWE star who is at odds with the company he once worked for.

It speaks volumes about how removed he is from that world. And it's going to make it more difficult for him to re-enter it.

The journey back to WWE will force him back onto bridges long since burned.

Update on Relationship with WWE

For anyone still holding out hope that Punk and WWE will work things out and he'll show up on Raw and return to kicking folks in the head, the latest word on the situation will deplete that last store of optimism.

PWInsider Elite reports (subscription required) (h/t WrestingInc) that relations are still not good between them. The report also says that WWE will probably try to avoid bringing attention to Punk's absence.

This is in light of WWE reportedly confiscating Punk signs at Raw in Kansas City.

WWE is clearly trying to move on. It would certainly love to have a deeper roster by virtue of having Punk around, but that isn't happening.

DAVE ALLOCCA/Associated Press

The narrative hasn't changed. From the beginning, reports have said that WWE and Punk weren't seeing eye to eye. There has been no improvement, and there is no reason to think things are going to change.

It's in the fans' best interest to not even think about him in a WWE capacity for another year or so. Then we can revisit the situation and see if the temperature has shifted at all.

Reported Interest from TNA

It would make sense for TNA to go knocking on Punk's door—he'd be a huge boost to its roster—but it's not clear whether the company sought him out. 

PWMania.com was one of many outlets citing the Wrestling Observer Newsletter regarding the situation. The report attributed to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said that TNA reached out to Punk much in the way it did to Alberto Del Rio. It also notes that Punk expressed no interest in stepping into the ring again.

Mike Johnson refuted that report.

He wrote for PWInsider that a source told him that "no offer was made, officially or via an intermediary—no truth to that rumor." Johnson also doubted whether the original report actually came from Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in the first place.

TNA could be being secretive here, but it looks like there was never any Punk-to-TNA talks except between the fans.

It's doubtful that Punk would be interested in working for TNA anyway. No disrespect to that company, but it's a major step down. He may pine for the ring in the future, but returning on a bigger stage makes more sense.

Total Divas Rumor

News of Paige and Alicia Fox joining the cast of Total Divas broke, and it wasn't long before the narrative moved toward Punk.

With Paige and Fox now on the reality show, only a sliver of the Divas division isn't a part of it. Most notably, AJ Lee is in that increasingly small group. One report suggested that her exclusion was thanks to her marriage to Punk.

According to F4WOnline (h/t Wrestling Inc), AJ hasn't been added to the cast because she is married to Punk.

A show that films one's personal life, as Total Divas does, would no doubt have to include one's spouse. In AJ's case, that's not something WWE wants and is likely not something Punk would be psyched about.

AJ, though, says that's not the reason she won't be joining Brie Bella and Co. on the E! Network.

In an interview with Chuck Carroll on Turnbuckle Weekly, AJ told a different story:

"

I could do it, but I wouldn't do it. I'm just happy being who I am on TV two days a week and on live events and then going into my private life, and into my little hole in the middle of nowhere and having no one talk to me about my private life.

"

The Divas champ would be a strange fit for that show, with or without Punk. All the cat fighting and drama doesn't seem like her style at all.

If she ever changed her mind, though, it would be awfully hard for WWE to work around Punk's presence. It's one thing to take fan signs away and not mention him on air, but trying to not call attention to him while he's in the background of a reality show is an impossible task.

And if Punk is not taking calls from Jericho, you can bet he's not answering when WWE's producers call to discuss Total Divas.