Booker T spoke with CM Punk at WWE NXT Deadline.
Following his return at WWE Survivor Series, CM Punk was a “free agent”, and he teased landing on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT. The former WWE Champion appeared at NXT Deadline on December 9, as he spoke with Shawn Michaels at the beginning of the show.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T discussed how he ran into CM Punk backstage at the show. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“CM Punk wasn’t hiding,” Booker T said. “He wasn’t hidden away in some room making a surprise appearance. He was running around and mingling. I ran into CM Punk in catering. Was sitting there talking to Jeremy Borash. I walked up to CM Punk and said, ‘CM Punk! What up man?!?’ He stands up and he goes, ‘What’s up, man? You flip flopper’ [laughs].
“I go, ‘You know how the business is, sometimes you’re a heel, sometimes you’re a babyface.’ [laughs]. It was very cool. We talked, small talk, he seemed to be at peace and ready to re-write the legacy of CM Punk and finish it off properly,” said Booker on his Hall of Fame podcast. “I can’t say anything bad about him. I know people wish I would say something bad about CM Punk, [and] I ain’t kissing ass or anything, either. It just seemed like he was in a calm space.”
Booker T: I’ve Never Had A Beef With CM Punk
Booker T went on to state that he has never had a beef with CM Punk. He discussed Punk’s return to the company and reflected on the latter’s exit from AEW.
“People say over and over, ‘it feels like I have a beef with CM Punk.’ I’ve never had a beef with CM Punk, not once. I’ve never gotten to the point where I said something negative to where, ‘Hey, I want to fight CM Punk,’ stupid stuff like that. No, no. This is about business. When he said he’s not here to make friends, he’s here to make business. In this business, you have to have friends in order to do business. You’re working with a lot of guys that you’ve got to trust in the ring.
“It’s not like a UFC fight where you don’t have to care about each other. In this business, you have to care about guys you’re working with. It’s just that simple, there is no way around it. If you don’t, it’s going to show, it’s going to show very quickly and you’re not going to last very long. That’s not something I have to tell CM Punk. I’m not saying that to CM Punk at all. He knows that. There’s a reason why things didn’t work out in AEW, it’s because a lot of those guys probably didn’t care about each other.”
Booker T Jokes He Is A Flip-Flopper
As for how he felt about being a flip-flopper, Booker T joked that he is one, as he sometimes sees things one way or the other.
“I am a flip-flopper [laughs],” Booker T said. “That’s a bad thing. I’m a flip-flopper in the way of, sometimes I see things one way, and sometimes I see things the other way. That’s all.”
The full video can be seen here:
On the December 11 episode of WWE RAW, Punk signed with the red brand and entered the Royal Rumble match.
