A WWE Hall of Famer has seemingly squashed his beef with CM Punk.
The Second City Saint has always been a polarizing figure in wrestling, whether among fans or his peers. This dichotomy has led to him having tiffs with several names in the business. One such figure who was critical of him was Eric Bischoff. However, as the saying goes, “time heals everything,” the former WCW figurehead seems to have gained a newfound appreciation for The Voice of the Voiceless.
On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks With Eric Bischoff podcast, co-host Conrad Thompson touched upon the topic of The Best in the World’s match at SummerSlam, where Thompson asked the 2021 WWE Hall of Famer if Punk winning would not help him be the Voice of the Voicless, adding that, as things stood, the Second City Saint’s chase for the title made for a better storyline.
Bischoff agreed and then spoke about how he settled his differences with the WWE star. He said he met Punk in person for the first time at the Hulk Hogan tribute episode on RAW, where the two had a conversation and let bygones be bygones. He called CM Punk a “classy guy” and expressed gratitude for having the chance to meet him. Bischoff said:
While we’re talking about CM Punk, I’m going to shout out CM Punk. Classy guy. Classy guy. I had a chance to meet him for the very first time at Monday Night RAW when I was there for the tribute, and we had a couple conversations, but I’ll just leave it at that. 100% classic individual and really glad I had an opportunity to talk to him.”
Reacting to this, Thompson asked what facilitated this change, as Bischoff had been critical of Punk in the past, adding whether Hulk Hogan’s passing made the two of them let down their guards and be open to talks. Easy E shared his side of the conversation with Punk and said the 46-year-old star’s honesty and approach won him over:
I don’t think it was that. I think it was, you know, again, here’s a guy that I never met in person up until that point. And I’ll just tell you what I said — said, ‘Man, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve said some pretty stupid sh*t, just want you to know I’m glad to have an opportunity to meet you in person.’
That was, I’ll give you my half of the conversation and I’ll he can do with that what he what he wants to. His reaction, the approach, the honesty is what made me a CM Punk fan. He’s a very honest guy.”
Eric Bischoff Shares His Thoughts On CM Punk’s WWE SummerSlam Match
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, the former WWE RAW General Manager was asked to share his perspective about Punk’s match with Gunther and Seth Rollins’ cash-in.
Bischoff said that he loved the bout, especially how it was set up, and the callback to Rollins recreating his ‘Hiest of the Century’ after 11 years with a character he has a massive rivalry with made the whole storyline stand out for him:
I love the story. I love the call back, you know, that the nod to history setting this whole thing up. I think it kind of completes the story in a very unique way when you have an ending like that, that is a direct call back, as you just laid out to something that happened 11 years ago. That’s the kind of detail and continuity that makes a good story a great story. I absolutely loved it.”
You can hear Eric Bischoff’s comments in the video below, beginning at the 1:08:30 mark:
CM Punk has been delivering some of the best performances of his career since returning to the Stamford-based promotion, earning him a great deal of appreciation. It’s refreshing to see that he is now receiving recognition from even those with whom he previously had differences.