There once was a time when CM Punk was absolutely furious to see Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the opposite side of the Vs. symbol at the Royal Rumble, cutting a scathing promo to level “The Great One” for not being in his league, all the while knowing full well what Vince McMahon had in his back pocket for their match.

Fast forward a decade into the future, and you'd think the “Voice of the Voiceless” would be just as angry to see The Rock return to the ring once more after a decade away, looking to steal the spotlight away from another performer who has worked his behind off to get to the top spot, right?

… yeah, that's certainly not the tune he was singing in an interview with TNT Sports, as he had nothing but nice things to say about Rocky's return to take away some of Cody Rhodes' spotlight.

“I think it's fantastic. Ten years ago, I was the guy that was wrestling The Rock when he came back, and now ten years later, he's coming back, and I think the landscape has completely changed, right?” CM Punk told TNT Sports via Fightful. “WrestleMania is two nights now, it's even bigger. Him coming back only helps. I always say high tide raises all ships. So I'm just happy that even though I'm hurt, I'm still gonna kinda be in the mix. My mouth still works, so I'm gonna still be able to talk some trash. I don't know if you saw the kickoff we did in Vegas with Rock and Roman and Seth and Cody. It was a lot of fun and I hope to just continue to do that while I'm recuperating because I can always just talk trash with the best of you. we love that part of it as well. It's the best part. It's what I do.”

Can a lot change in a decade? You bet, CM Punk certainly wasn't expecting to be back in WWE ten years later when he initially left, that's for sure, but here we are, and the fans appear very happy to see it, even if he was injured in his first televised bout back. Still, it's weird to see Punk so… tempered? Business-focused? Dare I say PG? It's like all of the you-know-what and vinegar has left his body, and when you consider that was a big part of his selling point as a wrestler, you're left with a, shall we say, different character.

CM Punk sounds like a completely different performer a decade later.

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So how, you may wonder, has CM Punk's tune changed in the last decade? Well, consider his “Boxing with God” promo from the lead-up to the 2013 Royal Rumble, when, after double-digit minutes of promo time both solo and going back-and-forth with The Rock, he delivered a run so iconic it has a name.

“Unlike a lot of people I'm glad you're back. I don't care what your schedule is. I don't care if you work here 16 days a year or 365 days a year. You could be Santa Clause and have his schedule, one day a year. I'd still kick your a**. I don't care how many movies you film every year. I know how hard that schedule probably is, but every time you come back, whenever you decide to grace us with your presence, I'm gonna kick your a**. Because this isn't Candy Land,” CM Punk said via Cagematch.

“I'm like nobody you've ever faced before. You can make fun of the color of my t-shirt, and you can talk about pie, and you can sing songs, and you can rhyme, and you can do your tired, lame-a** schtick. I just want you to know that come Royal Rumble, and you have about three weeks to realize this, I'm gonna kick your a** 'cause I'm the ‘Best in the World.' I'm the best thing going today. I'm the best guy you've ever stepped foot in the ring with. And you need to understand, congratulations, Rock, you just graduated from the kiddie table, but you just bit off more than you can chew. You're playing little league with your little insults and your rhymes and your ‘millions and millions' and your ‘finallys'. And I'm in the big leagues, and I'm swinging for the fence. You need to understand that your little jabs and your insults, it's all kiddie games. You can't leave a mark on the champ's face. Come Royal Rumble, understand, when you step in the ring, your arms are just too short to box with God.”

Now that is the CM Punk fans were hoping to see when he returned to WWE last November and, to be fair, was the CM Punk AEW fans saw for a few months at the beginning of his run in Tony Khan's company before suffering a foot injury shortly after defeating “Hangman” Adam Page for the World Championship and returning with a very different, bitter persona. Is this all a part of his new babyface character? Or is Punk actually happy to see his company doing big business? Either way, the change is noticeable and striking.