When Brock Lesnar took time away from WWE following SummerSlam 2012, Paul Heyman was left without a client.
Enter CM Punk.
Heyman and Punk were paired together in September 2012, forming a partnership much different than Heyman's alignment with Lesnar, as Punk was long established as one of the best talkers in the company and was the reigning WWE Champion.
Speaking to Inside The Ropes, Heyman recalled his partnership with Punk.
“I look over at him and he says ‘Can you believe they’re f***ing putting us together?’ I’m like ‘We’re both gonna be f***ing fired in the next four weeks, don’t you get it?’ And he goes ‘But the s**t we’re going to stir in four weeks, they don’t f***ing have a clue!’ I loved working with him, I loved it," said Heyman "I had the time of my life. We had a blast working with each other because, just like me, he had no idea what he was going to say when he went out to the ring. He was just doing it, you know, allegedly shoot promos that then get wrapped around into the storyline that we’re telling that he fervently believed in his heart that he was telling the truth.”
Heyman continued, recalling how Vince McMahon got the crowd to somewhat turn on Punk during his feud with Cena.
"How do you turn CM Punk heel in Chicago? Make it even more difficult: How do you turn him heel on John Cena? Because Night Of Champions is in Boston, which is John Cena’s hometown, where they are sure to boo John Cena and cheer CM Punk. So, Vince comes up with the idea ‘If I can’t make them boo him, I can at least make them gasp," he said.
Heyman would turn on Punk at Money in the Bank 2013, ending their partnership and leading a match between Lesnar and Punk at SummerSlam.
You can watch the full clip with Heyman in the video above.
