CM Punk Makes Honest Confession About Current WWE Run
CM Punk is in a good place as a WWE superstar, even though he has multiple superstars with whom he doesn’t seem to get along.
It was four years ago this month when CM Punk returned to pro wrestling on AEW Rampage. It was Punk’s first time in a ring on a major wrestling show since he walked out of WWE in January 2014. After over seven years away from pro wrestling, Punk seemed like he was happy again.
After a tumultuous two-year AEW run that saw him get fired, CM Punk returned “home” to WWE in November 2023 at Survivor Series.
The WWE that CM Punk left in 2014 has undergone significant changes since Vince McMahon was essentially fired from the company he built over 40 years. Paul “Triple H” Levesque now runs the show as Chief Content Officer, while Nick Khan serves as WWE President.
During an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Punk was asked about his current WWE run and if it has been what he hoped for when he came back.
“For me, yeah, I think it’s been everything that I ever thought the WWE could and should be behind the scenes and in front of the camera. That’s a better question to ask fans because ultimately, they’re my boss. They’re our bosses. I think they could agree.
As he continued, CM Punk went more into storyline mode by talking about his past rivalry with Drew McIntyre and his current rivalry with Seth Rollins.
“I did some pretty spectacular stuff with Drew McIntyre and unfortunately, I’m currently still [dealing with] a thorn in my side, Seth Rollins, involved in that whole vortex. We’re trying to move on from that.”
CM Punk And Triple H Have Resolved Past Issues
During CM Punk’s first tenure in WWE, from 2006 to 2014, it was widely acknowledged that he had a strained relationship with Triple H, who was a talent at the time and also worked in the office. Now that Triple H is just in the office as the Head of Creative, he gets along very well with Punk.
This past April, Triple H spoke about his relationship with CM Punk and how they get along much better these days.
We’ve had a couple of moments since his return, there was one moment where he’d return and they told him something creatively and they told me, ‘He does not like this.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll talk to him.’ Went and talked to him. ‘What’s going on?’ I told him the creative and he was like, ‘That’s good, whatever.’
I was like, ‘I know you don’t like it. Everybody’s told me. Let’s be open.’ He complained about what it was and I said, ‘Let’s go sit and talk about it and come up with something good.’ That sort of changed, it was like a paradigm shift for us relationship-wise, and now, it’s a funny thing for me to say, sitting down and being collaborative with CM Punk is one of my favorite things in TV because he shares a very similar view at the end of the day of the business as I do.
At WWE Clash in Paris on August 31st, CM Punk will challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title in a Fatal 4-way match that also includes LA Knight and Jey Uso.
The updated Clash in Paris lineup is below.
* World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. CM Punk vs. LA Knight vs. Jey Uso
* John Cena vs. Logan Paul
* Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
* Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match: Sheamus vs. Rusev
You can watch WWE Clash in Paris, streaming live on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT exclusively on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix internationally.