WWE Hall Of Famer Believes CM Punk’s Second Run Will Be Better Than First

WWE

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff believes former WWE Champion CM Punk’s second run will be better than his first.

At WWE Survivor Series 2023, CM Punk made his return to the company for the first time in nearly a decade in front of his hometown of Chicago.

This followed Punk’s departure from All Elite Wrestling on September 2 after being fired “with cause” following his backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW All In London.

Speaking with Jon Alba on Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff was asked to provide his initial reaction to Punk’s WWE return. He answered:

“I was pissed because like two weeks before, I made another dumbass bet with Conrad on 83 Weeks because Conrad said, ‘I believe we’re going to see CM Punk back in WWE before the end of the year.’”

“I said, ‘I don’t think so, it doesn’t make sense to me, they don’t need him right now. Survivor Series is sold out, it’s already getting a ton of buzz. Where is the added value?’”

“This is not my opinion of CM Punk the performer or Phil Brooks the individual. I don’t know him, the individual. Never had a conversation with him.”

“Don’t know what he’s like, beyond what we see and hear about publicly. But just because WWE is so freaking hot right now that there is no hole in their roster, there’s not a need.”

“It’s not like an NFL team that needs a better offensive line and we’ve got to find that one guy who can be our anchor. There was no holes.”

“So it was like, if you’re going to pull that trigger and bring in a guy who is as controversial as Punk is, and who has done a great job of keeping himself front and center, in terms of controversy, why would you use it on a night when you don’t need it?”

When asked to describe how he felt about WWE pulling off such a big surprise at the end, Bischoff replied:

“CM Punk showing up in WWE, clearly there’s what, a decade’s worth of story there? His role in WWE, the way he left, the Pipebomb Promo, which by the way, I found out subsequently was actually written for him, but the story is there.”

“There’s been this anticipation that’s been brewing since the minute he left AEW. ‘Oh is he gonna come back?’ ‘Yes he is.’ ‘No, he isn’t.’”

“The anticipation has been there, almost instantly. It didn’t have to be created or manufactured. The reality is the authenticity of it all.”

“All of the stuff that we’ve been reading about for 18 months with regard to Punk and AEW and the drama with The Elite, the press conference, that’s all real. That isn’t a storyline.”

“These are all things that happened. It’s authentic. It’s not a manufactured story. So you’ve got great story, history, backstory.”

Bischoff continued on to explain how WWE was able to pull this off and everything they have at play with the fallout, saying:

“You’ve got anticipation that was built in from the moment the news broke that Punk was being let go. The authenticity can’t be doubted.”

“The surprise was pulled off perfectly, and now we have action coming up next. That’s the easy part of wrestling. The action is the easy part. The story’s the hard part.”

“Creating anticipation is a challenge. Keeping it real and authentic is also a big challenge, especially in the world of professional wrestling.”

“Surprises are few and far between, authentic ones, ones that really catch people by surprise and you get the response that you hope for, which clearly happened at Survivor Series.”

“All that’s left now is where does he go? What’s the action like? I don’t think there’s any question we’re going to see great action.”

“Especially because there’s a great story, and there’s a lot of anticipation for who he’s going to work with and what that storyline is gonna look like.”

“I think Punk coming in at Survivor Series knocked it completely out of the park, which indicates to me that this is going be a very, very successful, long-term financially successful decision, provided that the wheels don’t fall off because of personal issues,”

Bischoff concluded by stating that this WWE run could be even better for Punk than his first if he’s motivated. He said:

“I’m pretty sure Punk is going to…provided he wants to, motivation is the core of this, right?”

“If Punk woke up and said, ‘Look, I want to have one more really, really good run,’ and if he’s willing to be a team player, I think he’s going to be very successful in WWE.”

“He’s not going to be able to get away with the same kind of silliness, nor will he be exposed to the same kind of backstage environment that he was exposed to in AEW.”

“He’s going to have to learn to deal with a more corporate, structured environment.”

“If he’s willing, if his intentions are such that he really wants to make this work and be a team player, I think his second run will be better than his first in WWE,”

As previously reported, Bryan Danielson has discussed CM Punk’s AEW departure and WWE return at Survivor Series 2023.

Transcription via Fightful

Want to stay up to date with all the most important Wrestling and WrestleTalk News? Join our newsletter mailing list by clicking here, and selecting your preferences!

• eric bischoff
• cm punk
• AEW
• wwe

Share this article with friends