On Saturday, June 17th CM Punk makes his long-awaited return to AEW on the first episode of Collision. His comeback comes after multiple twists, turns and conflicting reports on his status within the promotion.
His return comes after a nine-month suspension after he famously cut a controversial promo about how the company and those running it, specifically the Elite – Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, which resulted in an alleged backstage confrontation.
During his hiatus, there were numerous reports about Punk’s negative attitude and influence backstage with top AEW star Chris Jericho even branding him a “locker room cancer“. Despite these feelings toward Punk, he returns soon and one popular member of the roster has come to his defence.
Billy Gunn Doesn’t Think CM Punk Is “Toxic”
Gunn was a guest on a recent episode of Sportskeeda WrestleBinge and shared his thoughts on the polarizing situation surrounding Punk’s return.
“So you can probably look at that two ways. Some people are gonna think it’s negative, and some people… I think it’s positive thing, I really do, because he is still, no matter what goes on behind the scene, he’s still got it. He’s still the guy. He still has huge drawing power, and that’s only gonna help us, so why would you not want a guy in here that can help?
I don’t feel he’s as toxic as everybody thinks he is, but then again, I’m an old person and I don’t really care about all that other stuff. All I care about is what can he do for the company? What can he do for the talent in the company? He’s still very good at that, and we all have our days of where we go a little off-track.
I can’t speak for anything, what happened with that, because everything I heard is also hearsay, and I don’t speak on hearsay because I’m not a gossiper. But in the general scheme of things, I think it’s a good thing, it really is,” Gunn said.
Gunn went on to state how he thinks Punk’s comeback is beneficial for the company and the talent he works with.
“He’s just gonna help the company all around. He’s gonna help the talent on the Collision show or whatever. I mean, when the single guy can sell out Chicago arenas, yeah, I’m gonna say you might wanna keep him around a little bit. But what personality’s on the other side, sometimes you gotta set that aside. I’ve been in the business a long time.
There’s been some people that I despise, but I still work with them. That’s just being honest. I still will do my job because my job isn’t to like you or dislike you. My job is to go out there and have the best match and do the best for the company that you can, and that’s what you do.
I’m not gonna hang out with you. We’re not gonna go eat, we’re not gonna go to the gym, but when it comes to business, when it comes to stepping in the ring, it should always be business. It should always be, you do the best that you can at that moment in that specific time that you’re given. So I think it’s a good thing, I really do. All feelings aside, it’s gonna be a good thing. It really is,” he said.
H/T Fightful