Eric Bischoff Wouldn’t Touch “Old, Fragile” CM Punk
WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has had his say on if WWE should take a chance on CM Punk, saying he wouldn’t touch Punk “with a 10-foot pole.”
Rumours have swirled regarding CM Punk’s future since he was stripped of the AEW World Title and apparently suspended for his part in the alleged backstage fight that took place following the All Out pay-per-view in early September.
With several pundits suggesting that Punk won’t return to AEW, thoughts have turned to the star possibly making a sensational return to WWE – after he walked out of the company in 2014.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc.’s Dominic DeAngelo, former WCW President Eric Bischoff had his say on Punk’s potential future, saying he wouldn’t have anything to do with him:
“I don’t know what Paul Levesque is thinking, I don’t know what their plans are, their strategies are, so I have no idea. I can tell you from my perspective, I wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. I think CM Punk had a mystique because of WWE, and because of the pipe bomb interview, and because he walked out, that created this aura and mystique that [AEW CEO] Tony [Khan] brought to AEW and took advantage of for a minute.”
“And once that mystique was gone, once you kind of let that air out of the balloon, and now you’re just performing every week, I didn’t see it in Punk. I just didn’t see it in him as a character, I didn’t see it in him in the ring –- he was good, but he wasn’t phenomenal.”
Eric Bischoff then continued to describe the negatives surrounding CM Punk as he sees them, pointing to Punk’s injury issues and the possible perception of him following his fallout with several members of the AEW locker room:
“He’s old, he’s fragile, he was never in great shape to begin with, he didn’t start out as an athlete, and now at [44] years old, he’s fragile as hell. So what would you do [with him]? Especially in WWE, where the intensity, and the physicality, and the schedule is so much more than it is in AEW, just the sheer workload.”
“I think the audience has kind of turned on him. I’m sure he still has some die-hard fans out there and all that, everybody does, but the general audience, I think he left a really bad taste in their mouth, and they realize that that mystique is no longer there, and he’s just another guy. So I don’t see the value. I can’t imagine it.”