As far as Punk is concerned, while some believe that he’ll show up next week as a swerve (largely due to Paul talking so much about him on Raw and nobody burying him at any point), the feeling is that at this point, he’s probably not coming back. You can never say never in wrestling, but there is a feeling among many that he’s mentally finished with wrestling.
And yes, it was pitched at some point to have Barrett come out and say he had some BAD NEWS — CM Punk is not here tonight.
Source - f4wonline
Source - f4wonline
