Booker T Discusses If CM Punk Could Ever Return To AEW

Booker T really thinks that anything’s possible regarding CM Punk.

CM Punk hasn’t been since on any wrestling programming since All Out. After an alleged scuffle between himself and the Elite, Punk remains sidelined as he recovers from an injury sustained in his match that night.

Speculation continues to run wild regarding Punk’s future. Some think he’s done with both AEW and pro-wrestling in general, while others think that he’ll go to WWE or elsewhere. As for Booker T, he thinks that Punk could return to AEW.

But returning to that company and that locker room will require effort from both sides involved in the All Out situation.

Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T explained that CM Punk could return to AEW if both camps put the All Out situation, and the other circumstances that led to it, past them:

“Anything’s possible, man, especially in this business. Yeah, they can get past it. If they do get past it, it’s gonna be from the damage control Punk has to do. I feel like CM Punk had a hell of an opportunity, because he was in a leadership position with a bunch of young guys that were impressionable.

That perhaps looked up to him, and looked to him for guidance, as far as being a guy who like you just said, ‘take us to the promised land.’ And sometimes, you’ve heard that saying, you know, sometimes you may not want to meet your heroes. Because they turned out to be something that you thought was totally different.”

Booker further added that, for this CM Punk/AEW relationship to work, Punk will have to do some work in order to reach the new generation of wrestlers already there. And to do that, Booker says, Punk will have to do more to understand them.

“I think if they do work it out, CM Punk is gonna have to really, really understand what this new generation of wrestlers is really all about, you know what I mean? I got a saying. We’ve been saying ‘respect your elders’ for years. And my saying is ‘respect your young people.’ I say [that] because they’re the ones that’s going to be running stuff in the next 10, 20 years.

“I talked about when The Young Bucks was in Impact Wrestling, I was like, ‘Man, who are these guys? What they heck are they doing?’ Making muscles and they didn’t have any muscles but they’d still be flexing and whatnot.

You remember what I always say: if you believe it, they’ll believe it. And now, 2022, the Young Bucks are some of the hottest guys out there. You gotta be able to understand this generation if you want to be a part of it. It’s different.

And they ain’t following the rules. I think that’s got a lot to do with it, man. I get it, I understand it… I think you got to be able to be able to go with the flow and figure it out if you want to be a part of this Gen Z era. That’s all it is. ”

h/t 411Mania for the transcription