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When news broke that CM Punk was officially fired from AEW, more than a few fans wondered if his former employer, WWE, would have any interest in a reunion with the “Best in the World.”
On paper, the pairing made at least some sense; for all of his backstage issues, Punk is still one of the biggest draws in professional wrestling and could deliver a pop – and a promo – the likes of which could match or even eclipse Cody Rhodes' return in 2020. Give him a chance, give him a contract with plenty of outs, and see what happens, right?
Speaking about a man he's been very critical of over the years, Eric Bischoff let it be known that, in his opinion at least, a pairing between WWE and Punker could work, but for that to happen, the two sides would need to find a way to make it work outside of the ring more so than in it.
“Yeah, it could be good. And look, again, this falls into the category of fantasy booking, but let’s just entertain ourselves for a minute. What if WWE, for whatever reason, Paul decided, you know what, I’m going to bring it in and give it a shot,” Eric Bischoff said via Wrestling Headlines. “Historically, WWE has done that type of thing. You just covered it. But also Punk is not going to bully his way around a WWE locker room. He’ll find himself stuffed in a garbage can. That won’t be tolerated. And he knows that. It’s one thing to get physical and call a Jack Perry. It’s quite another thing to try to throw your weight around in a WWE locker room. It’s not the same thing. And I think Punk, I don’t know him at all. I’ve never had a direct conversation with him. I’ve never had a syllable of conversation with him face to face. But Punk would also know that this is like a big opportunity. And probably my last shot, right? So he’d probably go in with a much different attitude than he had in, and who knows, maybe when he got to AEW. He may have had a good attitude, and maybe it would (work.)
Whoa, after advocating for AEW to fire Punk since the Brawl Out, it's surprising to see Bischoff advocating for another company to sign him. Then again, as Bischoff talked on, he did mention that, for a pairing to work, there would need to be some pretty heavy concessions from the “Best in the World” to make it all work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ68AyXJOR0
Eric Bischoff explains what would need to happen for CM Punk to return to WWE.
So, if a pairing between WWE and CM Punk could theoretically work, what would need to happen to make sure nothing goes wrong? Well, in Bischoff's opinion, it comes down to one thing: CM Punk and Paul Levesque getting on the same page.
“It’s Meltzer and Alvarez, and all the drama that they helped create and poured fuel on that soured the thing. For Punk, I believe it very well could have been. That isn’t going to happen to the same extent in WWE. So there are a lot of reasons why if Punk were to make that move or Paul [Triple H] was to make that move, and Punk agreed that you wouldn’t see a repeat performance of what we saw on the CW. There are two different worlds, two different situations,” Bischoff noted.
“So it could be really, really good. The question is whether it’s worth it to WWE,” Bischoff noted. “What’s the benefit? What’s the risk? Benefit is, if you could manage him and control, and I say control, but manage him properly, and he was willing to be a pro, there’s some financial upside there. There are some great stories there. Yeah. He and Heyman. Oh, my gosh, I mean, there are some great stories that could be cultivated there. The backstory already exists. You have to dig it up and dust it off and shine it up a little bit, and you’re off and running. And that would be appealing. The question is whether or not they need it. And it’s worth the risk to them. And I don’t have the answer to that. I’ve not had one conversation with anybody there recently that expressed an opinion about it, nor would I. But we’ll see. It’s a possibility. Never, well, never say never.”
Is there a world where Punk, realizing he's running out of places to wrestle and make millions of dollars, opts to toe the company line for a few years to maximize his earning potential before he calls it a career? Sure, but fans said the exact same thing about AEW when he signed there, too, and we all know how that turned out.
