7 Dream Scenarios If CM Punk Returns to Ring After Shocking WWE Appearance

Tuesday's episode of WWE Backstage on FS1 featured some breaking news, like Paige and The Miz signing new contracts and Johnny Gargano being too injured to compete at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, but nothing tops the news of CM Punk's return.

As the show was coming to a close, Punk made a surprise entrance to his WWE entrance music, "The Cult of Personality" by Living Colour, and shocked the world by revealing he would be joining the show.

According to the @WWEOnFox Twitter account, Punk will be appearing periodically on the program as an analyst. He is technically employed by Fox, not WWE.

It has been nearly six years since he last appeared in a WWE ring at the 2014 Royal Rumble, and fans have not stopped clamoring for a return ever since. 

The phrase you hear a lot in this business is "Never say never." A lot of people will tell you Punk is never going to wrestle another match for WWE, but those are the same people who said The Rock would never return from Hollywood and Bret Hart would never return to WWE after the Montreal Screwjob. 

Since anything is possible, let's look at the best dream scenarios for Punk if he ever decided to lace up his boots again.

Punk's WWE tenure saw him feud many different opponents, but his greatest rival was none other than John Cena. 

They were polar opposite characters. Cena was the company man who embodied everything WWE stood for, and Punk was the anti-establishment hero of the people. 

Cena has been gone since early summer filming movies, but if the chance to reignite his feud with The Straight-Edge Superstar came up, he would probably take the time to return.

Punk has been out of action for six years, and if anyone can help mask his ring rust, it's the 16-time champion. This would be a WrestleMania main event for sure. 

Punk used to call himself The Best in the World, and when he was in his prime, it was hard to argue with him. He helped carry the company during the pre-network era and produced countless great matches.

Over the past year, another man has been claiming the title of Best in the World, and his name is Shane McMahon. Needless to say, few fans agree with him.

Having Punk return to take back his nickname and vanquish the son of the man he used to work for would be a great storyline on multiple levels.

Punk and McMahon never interacted due to Shane being gone from the company during the majority of Punk's run with WWE. He returned in 2016, two years after The Straight-Edge Superstar left.

We all know McMahon is willing to take some big risks during marquee matches, so they could have the kind of contest that would not rely on Punk being as technically sound as he used to be. 

If Punk is back with WWE, a lot of people are going to be asking when we can expect to see his wife, AJ Lee.

AJ has moved on from wrestling to become a successful author and may not have the desire to return to the ring, but if she got the itch and Punk was willing to return with her, there is only one match WWE should consider booking.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are the king and queen of WWE. They are the corporate faces of the brand and key players behind the scenes.

One of Punk's greatest feuds during his WWE career was with The Game, and AJ has a history with Stephanie that could be brought into the storyline. The promos alone would be worth the price of admission. 

When Punk was at the height of his career, Daniel Bryan was reaching the same level. They had a handful of encounters, but they never truly settled who was The Best in the World.

Years before joining WWE, Bryan was known by that monicker on the indie scene. Punk adopted the name during his WWE run and they never made a big deal about it.

One last fight to decide who gets to call themselves the best is the kind of thing you usually only see in Rocky movies.

Bryan is a technical marvel who can make the newest WWE Backstage contributor look good without overshadowing him. It's a match that would appeal to both hardcore and casual fans. Everybody wins, except the loser, of course. 

This might not necessarily be a dream scenario for every fan, but this one has the best possible chance of happening out of anything on this list.

R-Truth is going to win back the 24/7 Championship at some point. That is a foregone conclusion. If he ever appears on WWE Backstage, he might end up losing it to Punk.

The former WWE champion has held almost every title in WWE, and adding one more accolade to his already impressive resume without having to get inside a ring might be the only way he ever holds another championship.

The great thing is, Truth and Punk have worked together before, so they would be comfortable interacting with each other for a few segments. 

We already saw one Fox Sports personality win the belt when Rob Stone rolled up Truth during an interview, so there is a precedent for the title changing hands outside of regular programming. 

Serena Deeb works for WWE as a coach at the Performance Center, and Luke Gallows is aligned with Karl Anderson and AJ Styles in The OC. 

All of the ingredients are there for a Straight-Edge Society reunion. Even if Punk only returned in a managerial role, seeing the group back together would be a lot of fun.

Gallows would have to turn on his current allies to make this work, but it would be amazing to see him team up with Punk to battle Styles and Anderson in a tag team match.

Having a partner would make it easier for The Straight-Edge Superstar to return to the ring one more time, especially if it's someone he has worked with before.

When Paul Heyman returned to WWE in 2012 to manage Brock Lesnar, he also ended up helping a few other talents. Ryback and Curtis Axel benefitted from some time with him, and so did CM Punk.

The Straight-Edge Superstar and Heyman were aligned during Punk's epic 434-day reign as WWE champion, but when it came time to pick between him and Lesnar, Heyman chose The Beast.

Lesnar likes working with smaller opponents, and if Punk were to make the decision to have one more match, it would be awesome to see him test his MMA skills against Lesnar.

The Advocate would have to pick sides, and if there was ever a time for him to turn on The Beast, this would be it. It's a longshot, but like we keep saying, anything is possible in pro wrestling.

Who would you like to see Punk face if he returns to the ring?