Booker T elaborates on his comments on CM Punk's return promo.
CM Punk returned to WWE at WWE Survivor Series, and he discussed his comeback on the following episode of Raw. Booker T then shared his thoughts on the promo by saying that it felt heartfelt, and it seemed like Punk almost got choked up.
Speaking on the Hall of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore, the WWE Hall of Famer elaborated on his previous comments about the promo, which sparked some criticism,
“I don’t know if those words were written for CM Punk or not, I really don’t. But I do know that CM Punk is a guy that pretty much says what he wants to say. I’m giving CM Punk the benefit of the doubt to be one to have said the words that he felt. Was it a shoot or not? I don’t know," Booker T said.
Brad Gilmore brought up Kevin Nash's comments about how the promo felt contrived. Booker T responded by noting that the message may have come across like that because it seemed as if it was written for Punk. However, he stated that he didn't think Punk would go along with that. Booker T then shared his belief that everything in wrestling is a test, and if that was true of the promo, Punk passed.
“I think Kevin feels that way because, just like I, unless CM Punk really felt that way, when he said it’s good to be back home, that sounds and feels like something that perhaps, ‘You gotta say this. We gotta write this for you.’ Me personally, I don’t see that with CM Punk. I think if someone had told him, ‘Hey, you gotta go out and say this,’ he might have said, ‘No, I can’t do it.’ There might have been some rift there. I just don’t see them putting him in that position first night back. In this business, I say everything is a test. That could have been CM Punk’s test. ‘Let’s see what he goes out here and say. Bringing him back in, we give him a shot. Let’s see what we go out there and say. Let’s see if he’s gonna go out there and bury the company, or if he’s gonna go out there and put us over. Let’s see exactly how this thing’s gonna start out.’ It could have been one of those tests. Me personally, I don’t know. But if it was a test, CM Punk passed it because you gotta show you’re willing to play ball. Whether I tell you you need to play ball or not, you’re back, and that’s something that it seems like you would perhaps understand if we want to get off on the right foot. I could be wrong. But me personally, that’s just the way I see it," Booker T said.
Booker R then noted that he thought Punk may have been emotional when he saw that the fans still supported him after everything he had been through. When Gilmore wondered whether someone should have interrupted Punk's promo to set up a storyline, Booker noted that this would have been wrestling 101, but he agreed with the approach to take it slow.
“That’s wrestling 101. That’s something that we would expect. But I don’t know. For me, I wouldn’t want to jump the gun too soon. We got him here, let’s see where this thing goes, start slowly. That’s what I would think about first, just because of the history. Everything is a test all the time in this business, for me anyway, that’s the way I’ve always looked at it. Everything’s always a test. For someone to come out there. Of course that would have sparked the interest of the Internet immediately. But it’s just like Cody Rhodes winning immediately when he got back also. We wouldn’t have none of the drama that we’ve had with Cody over the last 365 either," Booker T said.
Booker T recently stated that he doesn't expect to see the same problems with Punk in WWE. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Kurt Angle had to say about CM Punk's return to WWE.
CM Punk is set to appear on the December 8 episode of WWE SmackDown. More information is available here.
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