After discussing all things CM Punk's return on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T had to face the “Best in the World” head-on at NXT Deadline, where the duo both worked the show in their respective roles.

Would Punk give Booker a hard time for going too hard or soft on him as part of his public remarks? Or would it be mostly cordial, with the incredibly high-profile WWE personalities sharing a moment of fun before they did their respective jobs? Well, as it turns out, it was a little bit of both, as Booker T noted on his podcast.

“CM Punk wasn't hiding. He wasn't hidden away in some room making a surprise appearance. He was running around and mingling. I ran into CM Punk in catering. Was sitting there talking to Jeremy Borash. I walked up to CM Punk and said, ‘CM Punk! What up man?!?' He stands up and he goes, ‘What's up, man? You flip flopper' [laughs]. I go, ‘You know how the business is, sometimes you're a heel, sometimes you're a babyface.' [laughs]. It was very cool. We talked, small talk, he seemed to be at peace and ready to re-write the legacy of CM Punk and finish it off properly. I can't say anything bad about him. I know people wish I would say something bad about CM Punk. I ain't kissing a** or anything, either. It just seemed like he was in a calm space,” Booker T said via Fightful.

“People say over and over, ‘It feels like I have a beef with CM Punk.' I've never had a beef with CM Punk, not once. I've never gotten to the point where I said something negative to where, ‘Hey, I want to fight CM Punk,' stupid stuff like that. No, no. This is about business. When he said he's not here to make friends, he's here to make business. In this business, you have to have friends in order to do business. You're working with a lot of guys that you've got to trust in the ring. It's not like a UFC fight where you don't have to care about each other. In this business, you have to care about guys you're working with. It's just that simple, there is no way around it. If you don't, it's going to show, it's going to show very quickly, and you're not going to last very long. That's not something I have to tell CM Punk. I'm not saying that to CM Punk at all. He knows that. There's a reason why things didn't work out in AEW, it's because a lot of those guys probably didn't care about each other.”

Asked the question everyone suddenly wanted to know, what is a flip-flopper, by his co-host Brad Gilmour, Booker T attempted to bring it to light, even if it's worth wondering if Punk's intentions were the same as his theory.

“I am flip-flopper [laughs]. That's a bad thing,” Booker said. “I'm a flip-flopper in the way of, sometimes I see things one way, and sometimes I see things the other way. That's all.”

Did Punk actually mean his comments in jest, or was this one of his famous digs at a person he doesn't like, something a third of the AEW roster became all too familiar with? Fans may never know, but it's worth noting all the same.

CM Punk reconnected with Shawn Michaels at NXT Deadline too.

Speaking of CM Punk reconnecting with WWE Hall of Famers at NXT Deadline, the “Best in the World” started the show off with a special in-ring conversation with the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, all the while wearing a Bret Hart hoodie for good measure.

While the segment was guised as a stop on Punker's free agent tour, in actuality, he used the time to talk about reconnecting with old friends and making new ones backstage, which includes Booker T and HBK, too.

“I got good news and bad news, if I may, real quick. You want the good news? What was that? The brilliant thing about you forgetting everything you’re supposed to say and me forgetting everything I’m supposed to say is I get to do this: I’m backstage, quite a few people come up to me and they say things like ‘I grew up watching you,’ and they take selfies with me, and now I get to do it with you because I grew up watching you,” CM Punk told the NXT audience.

“That’s a beautiful thing. I missed my flight today, and I owe you a phone call. I thought I’d come in person and talk to you, because the big question is ‘Is CM Punk gonna be on SmackDown, or is CM Punk gonna be on RAW, or is the newest NXT Superstar named [CM Punk]!”

Unfortunately for NXT fans, Punk will not be coming to the developmental brand as his new full-time home, as he chose to “sign” with RAW in front of the crowd in Cleveland, Ohio. Still, it's nice to know that this apology tour is working well, as the WWE Universe appears very happy to have this version of Punk on weekly television.