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Before the WWE Universe officially opened up Monday Night RAW with a series of matches, promos, and even CM Punk comparing himself to the biggest entertainer on the planet at the moment, Taylor Swift, Jackie Redmond caught up with Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers to talk about his team's big Stanley Cup win earlier this year.
Celebrating South Beach's big hockey success on camera for a pre-RAW digital exclusive segment, Punk decided to crash the party to give Luongo his flowers, as he's proud to see a stalwart of the sport finally get his place in history.
“No, I wanted this to be a surprise for you because I probably hated you back then because we were supposed to – and I say we like I was on the team, right – we were supposed to repeat but, you know, we did okay,” CM Punk told Luongo. “And it's really cool to see good people get their due and your name's on the cup, like what does that feel like?”
“I saw it for the first time about a month ago. Just something you spend your whole life working for, and obviously I didn't do it as a player, but I put in the work here in management,” Luongo said, which CM Punk asked if that matters. “It doesn't, the feelings are the same as when I played, right? The emotions of the game are the same whether you are on the ice or in the manager's suit so man, there is a lot of work that goes into that.”
Clearly touched by Luongo's comments, Punk decided to compare the former goaltender's situation to his own, as his athletic career is rapidly coming to a close.
“I feel like as a wrestler I always used to look at my career as it just being in the ring, and now I look at it like, ‘Okay, kind of winding down here, I'm getting a little older, a little grayer, but there's so much more to do behind the scenes in this business, even on the camera,'” Punk noted. “So, like, it does people a disservice when people are like, ‘I wanted to get in as a player, but I didn't,' but it's still, your name on the cup, it means you're etched in history, you know? Like it's eternal, and that's super awesome. And I have a lot of friends in Vancouver who are huge Lu fans so it's cool, I'm glad I'm here, I'm glad I got to say congrats in person and you'd better be cheering for me out there.”
While Luongo wouldn't commit to supporting Punk in his feud against McIntyre, as the “Scottish Warrior” is a tough customer who isn't above injuring a former goalie, in the end, it's safe to say their hockey rivalry has left to make way for a real friendship, which, in the end, is what really matters.
Drew McIntyre doesn't hold CM Punk, the wrestler, in high regard
Speaking of the feud between Punk and McIntyre, the duo were both at Fanatics Fest in NYC for a weekend of autographs and fan meetings, and the latter stopped by The Ringer's The Masked Men Show to talk about his feud with the “Scottish Warrior.”
While McIntyre was forced to admit that Punk is very much an attraction, as he sold a ton of merch in NYC, there's a big difference between being an attraction and a professional wrestler, with the “Best in the World” being more the former than the latter.
“I can actually do that because I always tell the truth, and I'm not a hypocrite, unlike Punk. His answer was just lazy. ‘He's the fourth best behind the Highlanders.' That's not true, it's just lazy. One nice thing about Punk; he sells a lot of t-shirts. That's true. He's great for merchandising. He's a big name. The thing that drives me most crazy is that he goes around masquerading, calling himself a professional wrestler. That actually p*sses me off to be honest. Invokes names like Harley Race, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat. Punk took nine years off. He sat on his a** and did nothing while guys like myself and the rest of the WWE roster worked their a**es off 52 weeks a year, didn't take our ball and went home. He quit the company and went and sat on his a**. I got fired. I got told, ‘Hey, you're not good enough right now. Bugger off.' My response wasn't to sit on my couch. I'm going to keep wrestling and work harder than anybody in the world and reinvent myself and come back and reach the top of the WWE mountain and prove I'm the best in the world. That's what I've done. I'm a pro wrestler day in and day out,” McIntyre declared via Fightful.
“He went away. He's been living on the pipe bomb, living on the feud with Cena, he's smart and maximized and became a big star. Nostalgia is a h*ll of a thing. He's been gone for all this time. This legend has been created. He's no longer a professional wrestler. He's an attraction. There is nothing wrong with being an attraction, we need attractions, but don't f**king say you're a professional wrestler if you're not a professional wrestler. I'm a professional wrestler.”
Is Punker still worthy of his time-honored moniker? No, probably not, as if he wrestles more than a few times a year, his body would unquestionably fall apart, but just because his actual in-ring work is no longer the best around doesn't mean he isn't doing some of the best work of his career. Considering his match with McIntyre was the lone non-title match at SummerSlam, it's safe to say there's still a ton of money to be made via the “Second City Saint.”
