Dave Meltzer on CM Punk’s Return: Scars Are Deep
This month will mark 7 years when CM Punk left WWE and kind of turned his back on wrestling since then. Dave Meltzer was talking to Inside the Ropes about CM Punk and shared his thought on whether he would ever return to wrestling. You can also check the complete video below.
On CM Punk’s pipebomb promo: “At the time, I remember the word on the street was [that] he was miserable and he was gonna leave and he has given his notice. And if you remember before the pipebomb, he started losing on TV all the time and it’s like I was like “wow, he has really given notice and he is really gonna leave.”
On whether pipebomb promo changed wrestling industry: “I thought it[pipebomb promo] was a phenomenal promo and a landmark right away. But I didn’t see that how it was going to change everything. And it kind of did and didn’t at the same time…. in the sense that like the business really didn’t pick up. There with some people who just gung-ho on him and he was really popular… and there were that many people chopping him down his legs and everything like that… It’s like he should have been really been pushed hard and it wasn’t quite there… And they were doing things to break his momentum and I didn’t really understand it. The original plan on his comeback, as I recall, he was going to come back and at the end of night, Triple h was going to be beating him up. They finally talked him out of it. But it’s like, he has had ruined his first night after he came back a couple of weeks right.”
On WWE breaking Punk’s Momentum: “I think the idea was that Kevin Nash was a guy he could beat that has credibility. He is a big guy but that never happened. It was kind of like that it ended up his momentum. I mean he was around for several years… He was a top guy for several years I guess after that.. about three years before he left, but there was a moment in time with like Austin they got it… With Punk, I don’t know if it could have been as big as Austin…. Probably not… but it still was and could have been the closest thing of that… And they missed out on him.”
On whether CM Punk Will Ever Return to Wrestling: “If he hates WWE, wrestling has been good to him. It was a lot of his life and I know a lot of people who are not down on him because he kind of turned his back on wrestling type of thing. He is entitled to do that but I am the one to never say never. I mean.. Lesnar I remember telling me over and over that he was never gonna come back. And every time he told me I was like you are coming back.. you know… It’s just inevitable and I would say the same thing about Punk because everyone does. Right, so I thought time will heal all wounds. And you know, I thought that “All In” show was almost like the perfect place for him to return. He likes the Young Bucks.. He talks to The Young Bucks. The fact that he didn’t, tells me that the scars are deep.”
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