A.J. Lee and C.M. Punk update

THE NEWS WHICH broke this week that A.J. Lee requested and has been granted a leave of absence from WWE strongly indicates that C.M. Punk will not return to WWE before his contract expires in July.

A.J. and Punk are engaged, and she is moving in with him in Chicago.

If Punk intended to return to WWE screens within the next month or two, it's logical to assume that A.J. would have committed herself to WWE -- in particular the pursuit of the Divas title she lost on April 7 -- so she would have remained part of ongoing story lines, and the two could have travelled together and done the couple thing on the road, as others in WWE do.

Nearly three months after he walked out, Punk is enjoying the freedom to do whatever he wants when he wants, from what we hear, which is something that seldom happens when one is chained to the WWE treadmill. As everyone knows, it's an endless loop of travel and exhaustion for the top stars and many other players too. That, coupled with the pain and discomfort from which Punk was suffering due to the bumps (his Randy Savage elbow tribute was giving his hip some bother), and the belief that he wasn't performing at his best, drove him to the exit the day after Royal Rumble.

Some have urged Punk to return to WWE for financial reasons or because they wish to see him perform again. I don't think he should make a comeback until he feels that he's sufficiently rested and ready to contribute, and WWE offers him an interesting programme. If that takes another six or eight months, so be it. His value to WWE will increase the longer he remains on the sidelines, anyway, as written in our lengthy article on Punk in Issue 233 of Power Slam.

Meanwhile, the WWE machine rolls on. As it turns out, Punk's departure has been extremely beneficial to Daniel Bryan (who received Punk's spot at WrestleMania XXX) and The Shield, who are now in a top-line babyface position they might not have been awarded, had Punk remained on the active squad. Punk did others on the roster a favour by leaving, and WWE as a whole.

-- Fin Martin

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