Paul Heyman said that CM Punk is back where he belongs in WWE, but he had to go through hell to get there.
Punk walked out of WWE in 2014. He signed with AEW in 2021 and had a turbulent run there. After he was released in September 2023, he returned to WWE in November.
Speaking with Sam Roberts at Fanatics Fest NYC (via Matt Kempke), Paul Heyman discussed CM Punk’s return to WWE.
“It’s destiny, really,” Paul Heyman said. “CM Punk is back where he belongs, and that’s on top in WWE. Like any other rebel…it’s the old song, you have to go through hell before you get to heaven, and CM Punk, the struggle is real. He is a rebel.
“To this day, he’s a rebel. But the rebel would never reach the top, the rebel will never get his due on his own merit if he doesn’t go through pure, blatant, bloody hell, and that hell could not only be in WWE. He had to go through hell elsewhere as well, and everybody can see it and hear it and know about it and sit there and go, ‘My god, will somebody please one time give this talented man the platform that he deserves?'”
Paul Heyman: CM Punk Finally Has A Chance
Heyman went on to state that, for the first time, CM Punk now has a chance to step out from the hell he has been going through and showcase his greatness.
“It’s been over 20 years now that he’s been on the national stage, and he still doesn’t get a chance to demonstrate his greatness,” Paul Heyman said. “Now, truly for the first time, he has a chance to step out from the hell that he’s been going through and of course, again, having to pay his dues in front of the world, as soon as he’s getting started, he gets terribly injured and taken off the roster. So his fight to come back, and he came back months earlier than any doctor could have predicted because that’s how badly he wanted to get back into the mix and on top in WWE.”
Heyman also noted that the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony would not have been the same for him if Punk was not there.
The video can be seen here:
Punk is set to face Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match at WWE Bad Blood.
RELATED: Ace Steel: CM Punk’s Current Comeback Is What His Return To Wrestling Was Supposed To Be
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