CM Punk says the door is still open for a possible in-ring return. The former WWE Champion recently appeared on the Swing & Mrs. Podcast, hosted by former Major League Baseball star Cody Decker and his wife/AEW commentator, Jennifer Decker.
When asked if he would consider lacing up his boots again, Punk said nobody has made him the right offer to draw him out of retirement.
“The answer changes,” Punk said. “It’s a very fluid answer. Currently, if the business was right and I had somebody that motivated me across the ring from me, I think, might be able to get it done. Nobody has dangled the correct carrot.”
As long as the money was right and his opponent was somebody he wanted to face, CM Punk confessed he could be open to the idea. He listed previous opponents such as Daniel Bran, John Cena and Rey Mysterio as people he’d like to face again. He also pointed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Will Ospreay as a new challenge he’d be open to.
“As far as people that I’ve worked with before, if there was a clean slate, if the money was right, I think a guy like Daniel Bryan, I would go, ‘I would listen to your idea.’ If you said John Cena, I’d probably listen to your idea. Rey Mysterio, I would listen to your idea,” CM Punk said. “For people I haven’t ever wrestled before, I think Will Ospreay, I would listen to your idea.”
“There’s a lot of moving parts. I’m busy doing other stuff and nobody has found the right combination of ways to approach me. It’s not all up to me, ladies and gentlemen, it’s up to the people who actually run the company.”
Will Ospreay caught wind of Punk name dropping him as a possible opponent. The Aerial Assassin told Punk to mark January 4th on his calendar, the day of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Wrestle Kingdom event.
CM Punk wasted little time in having some fun at the expense of Roman Reigns on social media.
WWE made big news when they issued a statement on Monday as it was announced that WrestleMania 36 will still take place as scheduled but will take place at a different location.
It was originally scheduled to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. However, it was moved due to the coronavirus and will now air live at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no live audience.
CM Punk took to his official Twitter account where he wrote, “Well that’s one way to make sure Roman finally gets not booed and nobody chants for meeeeeee.”
Punk’s reference was about Reigns being heavily booed by fans on numerous occasions including previous WrestleMania events in which he either won or was challenging for the WWE Title.
CM Punk won’t be appearing on Tuesday’s episode of WWE Backstage on FS1 due to the production of the show being halted due to the coronavirus. There’s no word yet on when the show will return.
Reigns is slated to challenge Goldberg for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 36. This is expected to be one of the top matches featured on the card.
CM Punk just finished up shooting a new movie by horror-legend Barbara Crampton. The film Jakob’s Wife was shooting in Canton, Mississippi and recently wrapped up. Travis Stevens, who worked with Punk on “Girl on the Third Floor,” directed the film.
The film is a supernatural horror that follows a woman in her late 50s who develops powers. Also set for the film are Larry Fessenden (Stake Land), Bonnie Aarons (The Nun), Robert Rusler (Weird Science), Sarah Lind (Edgemont), Mark Kelly (Fear the Walking Dead), and Nyisha Bell.
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring Jakob’s Wife to life with such highly experienced producing partners at AMP International. It’s been wonderful working closely with Bob Portal in developing this amazing project, and reuniting with two of my favorite colleagues in the business, Travis Stevens and Larry Fessenden,” said Crampton.
“Since making We Are Still Here together; I’ve been looking forward to telling more scary stories with Barbara and Larry. Jakob’s Wife has been a chance for us to dig deep in to the lives of these fictional characters and test them in ways I think genre fans are going to love seeing,” added Stevens.
Former WWE Superstar CM Punk has discussed the possibility of wrestling for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) while still working on WWE Backstage. Joining Kevin in the Mornings with Allie & Jensen, Punk argued that he technically could, but wouldn’t be surprised by a negative response from Fox.
“I think if I was wrestling for AEW, I’m sure Fox would be like, ‘well, it was fun while it lasted.’ I guess technically [I could],” Punk said. “Technically I could do that yeah, but I’m sure Fox would be like, ‘well?'”
He stressed how he can still do commentary on MMA shows while working on WWE Backstage. Punk also reiterated how he is an employee for Fox, not WWE.
CM Punk On Renee Young
CM Punk credited Renee Young with being instrumental in bringing him onto WWE Backstage. He shared how wrestling fans “owe a debt of gratitude” to her if they enjoy seeing him occasionally on the show.
“I don’t think it would have happened if it wasn’t for her. I was talking to Fox for a very long time. They immediately got Renee on board. Renee and I were having conversations every day.”
According to him, Young was suffering from ring fatigue thanks to her commentary duties on Monday Night RAW. With Backstage, however, she still gets to work within a wrestling space—just one without somebody “in her ear yelling at her.” He was complimentary of Young’s passion and mindset for wrestling, pointing out that “she gets it, and that’s what she excels at.”
Co-host of Busted Open Radio Mark Henry made some rather inflammatory comments towards WWE Backstage host CM Punk. This on a recent episode of the Sirius XM show. Henry made it clear that he doesn’t enjoy Punk in the role of ‘analyst’ on the show, saying that he should be out there ‘inciting a riot.’
Henry had interviewed WWE Superstar Aleister Black earlier in the Busted Open broadcast, someone who he feels is “ready for the main event.”
CM Punk had made comments on this week’s episode of WWE Backstage where he believed that the next step for Black should be a run at a mid-card title, specifically the United States. This did not resonate with the ‘World’s Strongest Man,’ who said that stars of much higher stature should be “taking the fight TO Aleister Black.”
“What Punk should say is ‘he’s looking for a fight? Hell, I’ll fight him'” Henry began. “How about that? Let that be the news tomorrow. CM Punk says Aleister Black wants to fight. Take your ass to the ring. And you tell me what day the week it is. And I’ll be there.”
CM Punk has not officially been involved in a professional wrestling bout since he left WWE back in 2014. Punk left the company before WrestleMania 30, forcing the company to change plans for that year’s event. It was rumored that Punk would be facing Triple H at the show of shows.
Mark Henry would then go on to hype how big a Punk vs Black match could be, “listen, you wouldn’t be able to buy a ticket. That’s what CM Punk is supposed to be doing. Inciting a riot. I watched him on WWE Backstage, and I feel like he’s got his hands in his pockets. His arms are folded. I feel like he’s, he’s got to be the focal point, I wish I was on the show, I would challenge him. And I would [say] ‘bro, that’s not who you are. I know you. You’re a fighter. That’s why you quit wrestling. So you could go fight because you wanted to fight. win, lose or draw. What do you like to do in your life? stir the shit and fight. Please do that. That’s what entertains me.’
WWE recently announced that Mark Henry will be joining WWE Backstage for next week’s episode.
You can catch Busted Open Radio every day on Sirius XM as well as their dedicated Podcast show via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Player FM.
Seth Rollins recently spoke with The Houston Chronicle where he discussed a wide range of topics including a showdown with CM Punk.
During the interview, the WWE RAW Tag Team Champion spoke about a possible match with the WWE Backstage analyst. He was also asked if the main event of WrestleMania is the only situation that would be big enough for the potential contest.
Rollins doesn’t think it would have to be at WrestleMania but he would be interested in the match. He talked about whether Punk is going to get back into the ring and how it appears that Punk hasn’t been interested in a return.
Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk?
Instead, Rollins thinks that Punk is comfortable sitting behind the desk and talking about wrestling.
“But if he wants to get back into the ring and show that he’s more than just a critic, and that he can actually back up what he is saying then I would love to be the guy to get in there and have the match and I think WrestleMania would be the proper stage for it, but I don’t think it has to happen at WrestleMania.
I think that match is bigger than any one event and so if he were ever to come back, we could do it anytime, anyplace and it would sell out wherever.”
Rollins had called out Punk a few times on social media when news surfaced that Punk had joined the WWE Backstage show on FS1. Time will tell whether that match gets booked.
Punk has talked about not being totally against the idea of wrestling again but not something that he’s interested in doing at this stage of his life.
WWE Backstage analyst CM Punk has shared who he thinks “should” win this year’s Royal Rumble matchup, naming NXT’s Keith Lee. Punk stressed that there is a difference between who he thinks should win the Rumble match as opposed to he thinks is going to win before fantasy booking his choice:
“Keith Lee from NXT should win the Royal Rumble,” Punk said. “I think he had a tremendous showing at Survivor Series, and he, to me, is a big fish in a little pond right now.”
He continued, “Not to say NXT is little by any means, but I think you need to follow up on stuff like this. You strike when the lightning’s hot. You see the little moment he had with [Roman] Reigns right there [at Survivor Series], that already feels like it was two years ago. We gotta get going with Keith Lee here. I think he needs to chuck Brock over the top rope and he needs to win that whole thing.”
When it came to his prediction for the Women’s Royal Rumble matchup, Punk went with “The Boss” Sasha Banks.
CM Punk’s fellow Backstage analysts also provided their predictions. Paige chose Otis and Kairi Sane; Christian picked current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Shayna Baszler. Renee Young sided with Drew McIntyre but didn’t provide a pick for the Women’s Royal Rumble.
WWE’s Royal Rumble event takes place this Sunday at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
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This past Monday on RAW, Paul Heyman announced that his client, Brock Lesnar, would be participating in January’s Royal Rumble. Not only that, but he would be the Rumble’s first entrant. In the wake of the news, former WWE Superstar Bully Ray stressed the potential importance of the number thirty entrant. He has previously speculated over the narrative impact this person could have. Now, Bully Ray has broached the impact WWE could generate if it were a person from Heyman’s past: CM Punk.
Bully Ray On Why CM Punk Should Be #30
“I think that if there’s hope that surrounds any one wrestler more than anybody else, it’s him,” Bully Ray said. “[…] even though he keeps pro wrestling at more than an arm’s length, I think that fans everywhere hope to see him back.”
He continued, “And the only reason I’m suggesting CM Punk is not for the shock value of him being the surprise entrant. It’s for the story that it could present for Brock. Check this out: Brock is standing by himself, end of the match. He ran the gamut, everybody’s out, who the hell is going to be number thirty? Punk’s music hits. The place is going to go absolutely bats—t crazy.”
Bully Ray added to his theory, heightening the drama of his proposed idea. He suggested how “Punk enters the ring, Punk and Brock Lesnar are face-to-face. That hard camera shot shows you them face-to-face, and splitting right in the middle is the look of horror, Paul Heyman looking like Kevin from Home Alone with that look of horror on his face.”
Bully Ray concluded by stressing the idea of a WrestleMania main event matchup between a returning CM Punk against Brock Lesnar. He highlighted how invested fans would be in such a confrontation, and that the interest would be big business for WWE.
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It looks like CM Punk wasn’t very happy with some remarks from the Miz made during the latest episode of WWE Backstage. The self proclaimed ‘Best In The World; blasted the A-Lister over his comments on the show in his latest ‘pipe bomb’ attack.
The Miz was the special guest on the WWE series this week
and he cut a promo on his appearance while talking to the camera as the filming
for the show was wrapping up.
However interestingly, towards the end of the promo, the
former World Champion apparently took a shot at CM Punk after asking Renee
Young if there was any better episode of WWE Backstage:
“Oh yeah, we are now done with WWE Backstage, they are taking the microphones off me. It was great, it was amazing. I feel like this was the best WWE Backstage episode ever. Oh, sorry. I didn’t ‘change the culture,’ my bad. my bad.”
The WWE on Fox twitter account later posted a clip of this promo on Twitter. CM Punk responded to it with a tweet of his own and in the response which has since been deleted, he told the WWE star to “go suck a blood money covered d**k in Saudi Arabia”:
Though this tweet wasn’t online for very long and it seems that the WWE on Fox account has taken down their post featuring the video of the promo as well.
For those who don’t know, CM Punk made a surprise appearance on WWE Backstage during the closing moments of the November 12th episode last year.
He cut a short promo during the appearance saying “It’s as simple as this, just when they think they’ve got the answers, I change the culture.”
There have been no response from any other guests of WWE Backstage on the matter and it would be interesting to know what Fox officials think about Punk’s comments.
Fans picked up on the fact that CM Punk referenced his WWE release in a post on social media.
He made the comment when he noticed on Twitter that WWE was hyping the wedding segment between Lana and Bobby Lashley on this Monday’s episode of RAW on the USA Network.
CM Punk References His Own WWE Firing
The comment was about his own firing from the company when he was given his termination papers on his wedding day with former WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee.
He told the story during his appearance on Colt Cabana’s podcast a few years ago.
Punk has signed with FOX to be a special correspondent and he is not going to be on WWE Backstage full-time while Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be the hosts of the show. Punk is not under contract with WWE as noted with his reference.
In fact, in a response to a media outlet, Punk noted that he wouldn’t be on the WWE Backstage show until January 21st.
After dealing with injuries and not wanting to wrestle anymore, Punk decided to walk out of the company on the Monday following the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in 2014.
It should be noted that despite the previous bad blood between WWE and Punk as well as the fact that Punk isn’t under contract with WWE, never say never in the world of pro wrestling. Regarding a potential wrestling return, Punk has not completely shut out the possibility of wrestling again.
He has made it known that he’s always been open to it but for him to wrestle again would need to see him receive a big payday. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
UFC legend Frank Mir recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet podcast. The man who defeated Brock Lesnar in his UFC debut made some interesting comments regarding his own journey from the octagon to the squared circle. Somewhere that he envisions himself being in the future.
Bloodsport – Frank Mir
CVV asked Frank Mir how it was working the ‘Bloodsport‘ event earlier this year; a ‘worked shoot’ event that had many similarities to both pro wrestling and MMA. “You know working at Bloodsport and then the event they had here (Future Stars of Wrestling in Las Vegas). Those are easy transitions, because it’s grappling. That I do every day, I roll with guys all the time.”
“I’m not gonna look very good”
Frank Mir also discussed how he wanted to ‘earn’ his way in pro wrestling as he trains with friend Austin Aries learning the craft. “I was upset when CM punk got to have a UFC fight for his debut,” Mir stated. “Well if all of a sudden my first ever pro wrestling match I jumped into AEW or WWE [they would say] what an assh*le! So just on my name I jump out there. I’m not gonna look very good, I’m not going to do a great job. And what does that say to all of the guys who have worked? Have wrestled for fifty fu*king bucks, you know? I mean like it’s kind of a spit in their face.”
“I wasn’t mad at CM Punk for getting that opportunity” – Frank Mir
The mixed martial artist also made it clear that he was not upset with Punk for getting the shot in the big time. “Now I was the one upset before when the guy [Punk] came over my sport and just took another [fighter’s spot]…that was my problem. I wasn’t mad at CM Punk for getting that opportunity. I was mad because it took the opportunity away from somebody else.”
Stephanie McMahon recently took part in an interview with Metro and expressed that she would love to see CM Punk and AJ Lee back in WWE someday. McMahon did note that Punk has been adamantly against an in-ring return but she hasn’t lost hope that we could see him back in a WWE ring someday.
“I personally enjoy watching both of them perform,” Stephanie said to Metro. “I think Punk’s been pretty vocal that he’s not interested in an in-ring return right now, but for sure, that would be interesting.”
“And I would love to see AJ Lee back in the women’s division,” she continued.
Stephanie McMahon on AJ Lee
McMahon continued to talk about AJ Lee during the interview.
“I think AJ Lee was an incredibly compelling character,” McMahon said. “Some of our most interesting and intriguing storylines were with AJ, and I think she deserves as much credit as every other woman on our roster.”
“Nobody should be overlooked, and that’s not the goal to overlook anybody’s name. Every single person is a huge reason for why this happened.”
“You know, I’m a big fan of AJ Lee’s, I really am,” Stephanie continued.
Here’s a Twitter interaction between the two from 2015:
@StephMcMahon Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times,
CM Punk and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin are both retired from active competition. That does not stop wrestling fans from hypothesizing a dream match between the two legends.
Whoever runs the WWE on Fox Twitter account is also interested in seeing this match. The account tweeted out an image of the two stars with a caption asking fans who would win if they ever laced up the boots one last time.
CM Punk replied to the post with a .GIF from his infamous pipe bomb promo. Unfortunately, the likelihood of this match ever happening is slim to none.
CM Punk is working an analyst on the Fox Sports 1 series, WWE Backstage. It should be noted that while he is only under contract with Fox, but he has not ruled out an in-ring return.
As for Steve Austin, he retired in 2003 after losing to The Rock at WrestleMania 19. He has since stated that he has no interest in wrestling again. He currently hosts the Broken Skull Sessions interview show on the WWE Network.
CM Punk made his awaited return to WWE Backstage this week. However, it appears that Punk is not the ratings draw that WWE or FS1 might have hoped.
WWE Backstage this past Tuesday night averaged 127,000 viewers, according to ShowbuzzDaily. This an 8% decline from last week’s episode, which did 138,000 viewers with Seth Rollins as the special guest.
CM Punk had a prominent role on this week’s show. He discussed Rollins’ recent heel turn, saying that . He also commented on the “dog food” segment from Friday’s SmackDown with Baron Corbin and Roman Reigns. Surprisingly, Punk did not hate the angle.
For comparison, the episode’s viewership is down 29% from
the 180,000 viewers of the November 19th episode of the show which was Punk’s
last appearance on the program.
This week’s episode was ranked at #128 on the Cable Top 150 and it pulled a 0.06 rating in the 18-49 demographic, compared to the #103 rank and a 0.08 rating last week.
It’s worth mentioning here that WWE Backstage is not the only show to have lost audience this week and the episode of Raw which aired on Monday also saw a decline in numbers.
The episode, which was the red brand’s go-home show for Sunday’s TLC PPV drew 2.150 million viewers, which was a 2.6% decline compared to the 2.208 million viewers of the previous week.
Posted December 11th, 2019 in WWE, News. Tagged: CM Punk.
Lana has responded to CM Punk in an interesting way on social media.
Punk made an appearance on WWE Backstage this past Tuesday night where he worked as an analyst. During the show, he talked about the storyline with Bobby Lashley, Rusev and Lana. This is where he noted that he thinks Rusev no longer wants to be involved with his wife on WWE television.
This led to Punk fantasy booking the feud between the three stars where Rusev and Lashley would eventually become best friends and them teaming up together to face Lana’s new tag team in a “Loser Keeps Lana” match.
The contest in Punk’s booking would take place at WrestleMania with Lana hanging above the ring in a cage. Eventually, Punk joked about how the new team that Lana would be managing would get so sick of her by WrestleMania time.
Punk would later take to his official Twitter account where he brought up the idea again and noted that he “Just booked you through mania, chica.”
Well, Lana didn’t appreciate his comments as she accused Punk of making misogynistic comments on Twitter. You can see her tweet here:
I know you’ve been away from @WWE for several years. Perhaps moving forward, you will favor #WWE and @FS1 by refraining from misogynistic comments like “chica.” Thank you. #WWEBackstagehttps://t.co/aiPzcNI83n
WWE Backstage analyst CM Punk returned to the show during last night’s episode. Joining fellow hosts Paige, Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, Punk detailed how he would book the current storyline featuring Bobby Lashley, Lana and Rusev.
“They have a match, they have a blow-off, right? I don’t think Rusev wants to be involved with Lana anymore on-screen,” Punk said. “So, Lana and Bobby go off, they do their thing, but, eventually, y’ know what, Lana grinds on the nerves. Bobby is sick of her. So what they do is, he leaves Lana too, they have another divorce, okay? They’re out. She gets another tag team to go after Rusev and Bobby, who have become best friends because they have the familiar: the ex-wife.”
He continued, “They become drinking buddies. This new tag team with Lana in tow go after them, and what they do at WrestleMania…they put Lana in a shark cage, okay, because by WrestleMania the new tag team is already so sick of Lana that the loser of the match gets what’s in the shark cage.”
Punk added that WWE could continue this story past WrestleMania if they wanted to. He noted how he has ideas for Lana, especially for when WWE returns for another show in Saudi Arabia.
After he provided his fantasy booking on-air, Punk took to Twitter to share his suggestion: “Loser keeps @LanaWWE match. Just booked you through mania, chica. You’re welcome. @RusevBUL #WWEBackstage”
This past Monday night on RAW, Rusev and Lana took part in a divorce segment on the show. Rusev ended up putting Lashley through a table, setting up a Tables match between the two of them at this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view.
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In the interview, Young, who serves as the host of the weekly television show, was asked about possible WWE ring return for CM Punk, who works as an analyst on WWE Backstage.
“We’re going to have to poke the bear because that is what everybody wants,” she said. “Still to this day, every arena we go in with WWE chants his name. Everybody wants to see CM Punk back in the ring. Does he want to come back in the ring? I truly don’t know. It seems like a never say never situation. I don’t foresee it happening in the near future.”
This week’s show features Punk’s second appearance on the show. Although Punk isn’t under contract with WWE and hasn’t followed the product since his departure in 2014, Young thinks he will become more comfortable about being around the WWE surroundings again.
Young talked about how her timeline he likened it to the frozen caveman coming back to life and him checking out wrestling again. She noted how fans have so much respect for Punk and to see him back in any capacity of the wrestling world is a huge win for everybody all around.
Young sees it as fun to have Punk get more comfortable in that spot as she is right there with him while he is dipping his toe back into the world.
She noted that she’s looking forward to hearing his perspective and share that on television. Young added that anything that strays from that would be a misstep as they want that unfiltered Punk on our show.
Jim Ross recently talked about WWE management’s opinion of CM Punk on an episode of his Grillin JR podcast. During the conversation, the topic of Punk’s contract negotiations with WWE before the famous Money in the Bank 2011 PPV was discussed.
It was noted during the conversation that Punk re-signed with WWE backstage at the PPV that night.
“The thing about that is it speaks to a bigger picture,” JR said on the show. “Why would – if you didn’t have complete faith from your boss and your upper management and yourself – why would Laurinaitis wait until the sands of the hourglass are running thin to start negotiations and get this thing signed?”
Ross would continue to say that Punk performed well and had the respect of his peers but not from management.
“This speaks to his lack of respect and confidence that upper management had in him still after all he had done,” JR continued. “After working with the Undertaker for example. I don’t remember Taker having one issue working with Punk. Rey Mysterio had no issues working with Punk.”
Ross continued to say the only negative words he heard about Punk was that he was a “different breed of a cat” and not overly extroverted.
“He was not an ass-kisser and because that was so contrary to the normal behavior of a top guy in any wrestling territory that I’ve ever been in, any of them, he was just a different breed of cat and folks did not know how to deal with him, simple as that.”
“He didn’t have the support of the front office that he should have had, and that’s really, really sad,” Ross continued.
JR and Conrad Thompson’s comments regarding Punk and WWE can be heard in the player below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFkvWvN1-M
Posted December 6th, 2019 in WWE, News. Tagged: CM Punk.
Former WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins was a guest on last night’s episode of WWE Backstage. Despite having a recent war of words online with Backstage analyst CM Punk, Punk was not present for the show.
“I’m here, he’s not here. I’m not shocked about that,” Rollins said. “I think I’ve exhausted all of my energy on the subject. I just don’t think it’s going anywhere, I’m not shocked that he’s not here, so I think it’s time to maybe move on to something that matters. I wish he was here. I wish we could have a face-to-face, but it’s not in the cards.”
During his time on the show, Rollins reflected on the reception he has been receiving recently from the WWE Universe, admitting that he is aware of the comments being made about him.
“You read the comments, you hear the small segment of the audience that boos me. Let’s be clear, this is not everywhere. I go to Little Rock, I go to Germany, I do live events all over the world and I’m not getting booed, alright? It’s not happening,” Rollins said.
He continued, “There’s a small contingent of our audience that’s very vocal on social media. But you see that, you hear that, you read that, that affects you—and I’m a passionate guy. I love this business. This is my life, so when you put so much into it, to feel like I get disrespected, I’m going to push back.”
Rollins noted how the “cool thing” right now is to hate on him as he is the “guy on top.” He compared himself to John Cena and Roman Reigns, contrasting his experiences with theirs back when they were WWE’s top Superstars.
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CM Punk has been pretty open about his hatred towards Hulk
Hogan over the years and it appears that his feelings haven’t changed since
leaving WWE in 2014.
The former WWE Champion recently made an appearance in Windy
City LIVE’s 2 Minute Warning YouTube show where he answered a number of
questions.
Punk was first asked who his favorite wrestler growing up
was and the former WWE star took the name of Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy
Piper.
He was then asked about Hulk Hogan and answering the question, the Straight Edge Star revealed that he wasn’t a big Hogan fan growing up. When questioned about meeting the Hulkster, Punk admitted that he met him and said that he likes him even less now:
“I’ve met him, and I like him even less now, F–k him.”
Apart from this, CM Punk also talked about facing the Rock in a match, trading places with his dog for a day and his favorite movie.
You can check out CM Punk’s comments about Hulk Hogan in the clip below:
CM Punk and Hulk Hogan
This is not the first time CM Punk has said harsh words about the WWE Hall Of Famer and he previously trashed Hogan when the Hulkster was still in TNA. Back then, Punk said he had no faith that Hogan had any interest in helping TNA and was simply looking for a paycheck.
“I have zero faith in Hulk Hogan as a man who is what 60 years-old and tries to dress like he’s 18 and lives on the Jersey Shore,” Punk said. “For a guy I’ve never met, I’ve formulated enough opinions about him just from being around him and like his business acumen and stuff like that, I really trust that he’s not in this for TNA and he’s not in this for the business. He’s in this for himself.”
While CM Punk is back with WWE as an analyst on WWE Backstage, there are no plans of him getting back in the ring. Many fans believed that if Punk were to go to a wrestling company, it would be AEW. Punk’s return to WWE was a shock to many and Ryback discussed this matter and gave his opinion on why Punk signed with WWE instead of AEW.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc.’s Raj Giri, Ryback revealed that he believes Punk signed with WWE because the company and FOX have allowed him to give his opinion “shoot on stuff” if he wants to. Ryback also added that this opportunity might get Punk his dream WrestleMania match that he always wanted.
“CM Punk, this weird dynamic, who at one time didn’t want anything to do with pro wrestling is all of a sudden going in and talking about WWE. And like I said, I think it is a weird chess game going on where he is going to go there and shoot on stuff in a more negative way and call bulls**t when he sees it on things that he doesn’t like, and he is allowed to give his opinion on different things. And FOX is going to allow it, where it is going to create a situation where he is going to probably be able to go back and get the WrestleMania main event match that he always wanted. That is what I feel like is going on, and that is why I feel like he didn’t go to AEW,” said Ryback.
It’s known that one of the reasons Punk left WWE was that he never got to headline WrestleMania in a final main event match. Ryback thinks Punk was fed up with not getting a WM main event and was done for good with the company. Ryback says that once you get out of the wrestling bubble you wouldn’t go back and work the exhausting full-time WWE schedule ever again. He compares it to Shawshank Redemption. “It’s like Shawshank Redemption, once you are out, it is a beautiful thing when you are truly free from there.”
Ryback added that there is a weird dynamic going on with Punk being able to come on WWE programming and shoot on what he wants. He believes Punk might have even figured out how to get himself into the main event of WrestleMania.
WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has given his thoughts on CM Punk’s return to the WWE Universe, courtesy of his analyst role on WWE Backstage.
Speaking on the State of Combat podcast, Austin stated that he doesn’t know if Punk’s inclusion on the show will ultimately lead to anything more. He noted that all anyone can do at this time is speculate over Punk’s interest in an in-ring return. Regardless, he stressed how great it is to have Punk doing business with WWE.
“Just the fact that he returned to be doing business with WWE I love because I know they split up on bad terms and now they are back in business together, CM Punk was a lights-out pro wrestler; great promos, great work, great talent, so to have him back into the fold obviously they ironed whatever they needed to iron out and both sides are happy.”
He continued, “It’s great to have CM Punk back in the pro wrestling/sports entertainment business. I think it’s a breath of fresh air because the guy brings in a great perspective, great insights, great opinion on all things sports entertainment.”
Competition
When asked if he thinks wrestling is entering another mainstream, pop-cultural boom, Austin brought up the competition between AEW and NXT. He noted that he believes in competition, stressing that “I think competition is outstanding and I loved it when we were competing in WCW.”
He continued, “AEW is doing their own thing, so I’m not sure if you have turned on YouTube lately and checked out NWA Powerrr with that studio-style wrestling. That is pretty fresh and entertaining to see, but I love competition. I love the fact that NXT is on USA Network and not just WWE Network.”
As far as Austin is concerned, he loves that so many alternative promotions are now available for wrestlers and that there are opportunities for everybody to make money and push each other.
Austin’s new show The Broken Skull Sessions is now available for streaming on the WWE Network. His first guest on the new show was WWE Legend, The Undertaker.
The viewership numbers are in for the latest episode of WWE Backstage, a weekly talk show.
The show that aired on FS1 at 11pm ET drew 121,000 viewers. This is a drop of 33% from last week’s 180,000 viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.
The episode ranked #125 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.05 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which is a decrease from last week’s show that ranked #104 with a 0.10 rating. Last week’s show marked the first time that it made the Cable Top 150.
FOX made it known on Monday that Punk would not be appearing on this week’s episode for fans who were wondering. However, Triple H was the featured guest but was not in-studio in Los Angeles as he called in live from the WWE Performance Center.
The official premiere of the show did 49,000 viewers with a 0.02 rating while the November 12th episode did 100,000 viewers.
This week’s episode of RAW that featured the main event of Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins, drew an average of 2.109 million viewers, down from last week’s 2.127 million viewers.
This was despite the fact that it was the post-Survivor Series episode of RAW, which has historically received a bump in viewership from interested fans.
AEW World Champion Chris Jericho recently spoke with Uproxx to promote his new Christmas song, a hard-rock version of Father Christmas by the Kinks. Proceeds from the single are being donated to Juvenile Diabetes Research Funding. You can hear the song at the bottom of this article.
Of course, pro wrestling was a major topic of discussion during the interview. When asked about CM Punk’s return to WWE television, Jericho says he can’t believe what a letdown it was and how little buzz there has been.
“It’s a long time coming,” Jericho said. “We knew there would be a Mötley Crüe reunion and we knew CM Punk would come back to wrestling. It was just a matter of time. I think he came back with more of a sigh than a scream.”
“It seems kinda funny that he came back on a show that drew 150,000 viewers where it could have been 5 million viewers,” he added. “But if it’s part of the process to slowly wean him into the wrestling business, then good.”
Chris Jericho says, “WWE sure needs” Punk, because this business is built on star power. He says “Good for him for coming back” but believes that CM Punk’s return was nowhere near as big as it could have been or should have been.
“He’s back for the first time in five years and no one really cares,” said Jericho. “But I’m sure it will lead to more. I don’t see how it can’t.”
It’s no secret that CM Punk had some talks with All Elite Wrestling about joining them. That may still happen, but it seems like a long-shot at this point – especially with Seth Rollins repeatedly calling out CM Punk for a match at WrestleMania.
Jericho admits that Punk would have been a nice addition to AEW, but they don’t need him. “I’m not disappointed,” said Jericho. “I know there were some conversations, but Punk’s his own guy. Could we have used him? Yes. Does it hurt us to not have him? No, not at all.”
Last night on WWE RAW, Seth Rollins opened up the show by berating several members of the RAW roster for their performance at Survivor Series.
During the segment, the Chicago crowd began to chant for CM Punk. Rollins told the live crowd that he tried to get Punk on the show but that Punk would rather sit behind a desk in LA.
According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon was upset backstage that Rollins acknowledged the chants.
“Unless Seth and Vince worked it out and Vince was working everyone backstage by being furious when this is going on, Vince was really upset about Seth responding to (the CM Punk chants) because Vince’s rule is that you don’t, on television in particular, you do not push the idea of a match that you are not going to deliver,” Dave Meltzer said on the show.
“I think that most likely that Vince wasn’t putting on an act and there is no deal as of right now and that Seth responded and Vince acting like he was furious was because he was actually not happy that (he) responded.”
Meltzer would allow for the possibility that Vince McMahon was “working” people in the back by pretending to be upset, however.
“I leave that open because it is Vince McMahon and anything’s possible especially on something like this,” Meltzer continued. “I don’t believe it, I’m just throwing out that 2% possibility that its that level of ‘work.'”
You can watch the Seth Rollins ‘Town Hall’ from Monday’s RAW below:
