>>16711729I think the truth is in-between.
Punk most definitely holds a massive grudge against AEW and the Elite in general for running him out of town and fucking him over. All the jabs and references shows he is still bitter as fuck.
He's also probably glad to be gone and the experience probably made him realize that the hell that was WWE was nowhere nearly as bad as AEW was given what a fuck-up Tony Khan is.
And while him being "rah-rah WWE is great!" is probably part of Hunter having Punk on a tight leash, I'm sure part of it is also Punk being legit happy to be back. Assuming Hunter/Punk did have a heart to heart and agreed to bury the hatchet, I have to think Punk probably came to the conclusion that as horrible Hunter can be, he's at least someone you can't bully and intimidate or manipulate via false flattery and butt kissing. Which means Punk can trust Hunter way more than he can Tony, especially if Hunter is using the carrot that is Punk one day running NXT, which I would assume is a legit deal given that it probably pisses Hunter off that Shawn's run as NXT booker is better received that Hunter's glory days of the late 10s/early 20s. Which gives Punk another motive for being all rah-rah go WWE, if he thinks that he's going to be rewarded with NXT once his in ring career winds down, to ensure Tony can't come begging for Punk's forgiveness to try and get him back in AEW.
