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There was a time in the not-too-distant past when CM Punk and Paul Heyman were like peanut butter and jelly in the WWE Universe.
Sure, both men had successful storylines before they linked up and have reached massive heights since, but after forgoing their own paths in very punk rock, antagonistic ways, WWE decided to pair up two of the best talkers in professional wrestling to forge an “unholy union” the likes of which almost unseated The Undertaker and his WrestleMania streak.
And yet, did you know the initial pairing with Heyman and Punker was actually largely maligned, with some members of the WWE machine disliking both men together and apart? It's true; in an appearance on No Contest Wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson, Punk revealed how he initially linked up with the ECW legend in OVW and how their pairing ultimately made the duo more foes than friends.
“I go down to OVW and boom, they put Paul Heyman there. At this point, I can't learn from Jim Cornette, excited I get to learn from Paul Heyman. I make friends with Danny Davis, who is equally a legend and has done everything. I dedicated myself to learning as much as I can in that window I thought I had until I get fired. That meant Heyman would fly into Lousiville at 9-10 p.m. on a Tuesday, I'd pick him up at the airport, we'd go right to the Davis Arena, and I'd either watch him just write TV and format it, and he did it like it as me making a cup of coffee,” Punk explained via Fightful.
“He's doing all this stuff and he slides it over to me, ‘What do you think? What don't you understand?' I learned how to format a show, I learned how to time out a show, half second in and out for commercials. I learned all this stuff. ‘What do you think of this idea? What would you do?' He starts asking me questions and next thing I know, that's on the television show. I'm like, ‘Am I writing the television show?' The business being the way it was, I did not want anybody to find that out. That would have been more heat on me. We'd do TV on Wednesday night and all Wednesday night I'm in this little closet of a room with Danny Davis and Paul Heyman editing the show. I learned how to edit it. They're sitting and screaming at each other. These two old-school dudes, just yelling at each other. I just tried to learn as much as I could. That was my first experience with Paul Heyman.”
Whoa, is that why Punk thought he should get his own show in AEW and has an interest in potentially taking over Shawn Michaels' job in NXT? Either way, Punk wasn't done discussing the situation, as he broke down how being a “Paul Heyman Guy” went from a developmental scarlet letter to the biggest badge of honor fans could ask for.
CM Punk was willing to lose his WWE job to learn from Paul Heyman
Afforded a chance to learn from one of the greatest minds in professional wrestling history, Punk revealed that he was happy to wear the Heyman endorsement with pride early in his wrestling career, even if it potentially put his job on the line.
“I learned very fast, ‘He's down here because other people don't like him either.' Me becoming a Paul Heyman guy was more of a Scarlett Letter than anything else,” Punk noted. ‘”We don't like Punk. Heyman likes him? We hate him.' It was one of those things where I was kind of confused, but my attitude was, ‘Me? No, you.' I was very much under the impression, and there is an alternate universe out there where this did happen, where I took all the knowledge I learned in that short amount of time, I got fired, and I went back to Ring of Honor.”
And the rest, as they say, is history; Punk made it to the main roster, eventually re-linked up with Heyman, and sat next to his son when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Not too shabby for 30 years of hard work.
