WWE Hall Of Famer Thought CM Punk Hated Them

It’s all love between CM Punk and one WWE Hall of Famer.

It was recently reported that Road Dogg Brian James is now co-lead writer of SmackDown alongside John Swikata. However, the news was met with a somewhat mixed reception from fans who didn’t remember his previous run in the role back in 2017 too fondly.

Despite the criticism, AJ Styles was quick to defend Road Dogg, pinning the blame for any of Road Dogg’s perceived failings at Vince McMahon’s door.

During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, James reflected on his life in wrestling and what might be on the horizon. During the conversation, the veteran opened up about his relationship with CM Punk and how it’s changed since the latter returned to WWE.

In the past the pair have “butted heads,” and James publicly criticised Punk during his time with AEW. However, according to Road Dogg, that’s all behind them, despite him previously believing they hated each other.

“Because in my head I hated him, and I thought he hated me too. Yeah, a lot of stuff (happened), I went down back and forth and good times and bad times, but yeah, I just thought (he hated me).

So then the first time I saw him when he came back here, he stood up and he hugged me, and it broke the ice immediately.

It also hit me right then, Hey Brian, he hadn’t thought a thing about you. It doesn’t matter what he thinks about me anyway, and I damn sure don’t matter. Doesn’t matter what I think about him. He realized that.

I was here at 55 and holding on to that, and I was holding on to nothing. There was nothing there. There was no bad feelings. I don’t know. It was weird. And he’s a different dude today.

I told him not long ago at live events and stuff. Hey, I really appreciate your attitude. And he said, Well, that’s the first time anybody’s ever said that to me. Well, I mean it from the bottom of my heart, because he’s a different dude.

Me and him butted heads. He butted heads with a lot of people. He says what he means, he means what he says. He don’t mind if it ruffles your feathers. I kind of respect it.”

CM Punk’s WrestleMania Plans Becoming Clear

According to the most recent report on the topic, CM Punk won’t be added to a long-rumoured WrestleMania match between Cody Rhodes at John Cena. While there had been talk about getting Punk involved, key figures within WWE weren’t sold on making the change.

Instead, it’s believed that Punk will be part of a huge Triple Threat Match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

H/t to WrestleTalk