Bruce Prichard looks back on CM Punk‘s first world title in WWE.
Speaking on Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, the Executive Director of WWE RAW and Smackdown reflected on CM Punk’s first world title win in WWE. Punk won the gold when he cashed in the Money in the Bank contract on Edge on the June 30, 2008, episode of WWE RAW.
“Very controversial. It was controversial because I don’t think that Punk had a lot of people in the locker room that were really pro Punk. He’s a polarizing figure. I thought if he’s that polarizing in the locker room, then what’s the general audience feel about him? I really felt the general audience was intrigued. He was different, and there was something about Punk, especially at that time, that it was a groundswell. People were getting behind. I thought later on, I thought that he was a much better heel, naturally.”
Punk later lost the title at WWE Unforgiven 2008, where Chris Jericho won a Scramble Match for the gold.
CM Punk’s Cash-In Shocked Everyone
Bruce Prichard continued by describing how CM Punk’s cash-in came at a time when WWE wanted to shake things up. He noted that the company captured the range of genuine reactions of WWE stars backstage.
“The idea at the time was for him to eventually turn heel,” Prichard said. “The way that they did it, that was after I was gone, I thought was superb, I thought it was really good for him. But again, in an effort to shake things up, you want to surprise on people’s faces? You want to see genuine reactions? Have a camera backstage when Punk won the title.
“There were those that were like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ There were those who were happy for him. Again, it was a moment that no one was going to call, and I thought it was a good one.”
Years later, Punk is a former AEW World Champion and arguably the face of AEW Collision. He will face Ricky Starks on the August 5 episode of the show. More information is available here.
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