Eric Bischoff Analyzes CM Punk’s WWE Return – Speaking with Jon Alba on Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff was asked to provide his initial reaction to CM Punk’s WWE return. He recalled how he bet Conrad Thompson that Punk would not come back to WWE before the end of the year.
“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?” Bischoff said.
However, Bischoff would lose that bet, as Punk made his return at Survivor Series after all. Bischoff was then asked to describe how he felt about WWE pulling off the surprise the way they did. He highlighted the amount of story and anticipation that is tied into Punk’s return. Bischoff also shared his belief that it could be a financially successful move, provided that personal issues don’t derail it.
“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. 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 said.
After recapping some of the reported issues that Punk dealt with in AEW, Bischoff shared his belief that, if Punk is motivated, this second run could be even better than his first time in WWE. He also argued that Punk won’t have to deal with the same issues that he did in AEW, though he will have to adapt to a new environment.
“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,” Bischoff said.
Eric Bischoff Analyzes CM Punk’s WWE Return
