Paul Heyman has been in the world of professional wrestling for nearly four decades now. He's seen just about everything the business has to offer and how wrestlers can connect with the fans. So when talking about one of the biggest stars of the last 20 years, even he is surprised to say that he believes the work that CM Punk is doing at this stage of his career is more interesting than when he was one of the promotion's top stars of the early 2010s.
"If you had told me that in 2012 that 12 years later CM Punk would be a far more fascinating character than he is now at the height of his rebellious status, I'd say that's just not in the cards for him," Heyman told CBS Sports. "And yet I look at what he did with [Drew] McIntyre and realize that he's so much more interesting now. He has a deeper connection with the audience now, which I never imagined would have been possible."
The storyline Heyman is referring to is the long feud between Punk and Drew McIntyre. It started with a legitimate injury Punk suffered from McIntyre's Future Shock DDT maneuver at the Royal Rumble in January. Punk vs. McIntyre became a cornerstone of WWE's programming until October's Bad Blood when Punk defeated McIntyre in their trilogy match. The feud touched on envy, revenge and crossing personal boundaries.
"You realize that rebels age out and once they do, they can no longer be the embodiment of the disruption that progresses against the establishment," Heyman said. "And yet he is now the older rebel with a little more wisdom behind him and a little more tact involved and he's that much more compelling version of a character and persona -- let alone his ability to portray it -- than ever before."
Heyman enlisted Punk to round out Roman Reigns' team at Survivor Series: WarGames. The storyline decision reflected Heyman and Punk's legitimate friendship dating back to 2005, and Heyman's time managing Punk as WWE champion.
"Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit," Punk said in his infamous pipebomb promo. "That's right. I'm a Paul Heyman guy."
Check out the full interview with Paul Heyman below.
Heyman and Punk's friendship started during Heyman's stint as head booker and writer for Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory at the time. Punk had six title reigns (including one ECW championship reign) during his first WWE stint, but he often butted heads with former WWE boss Vince McMahon up until Punk's seven-year retirement in 2014. Heyman and McMahon argued multiple times about Punk's early direction in the company. Only after Heyman parted ways with WWE did McMahon warm up to Punk's potential, who McMahon allegedly thought was benefitting from Heyman's "smoke and mirrors" marketing.
"CM Punk battled against the perception that he was only a 'Paul Heyman guy.' He got unfortunately dragged down by that tag," Heyman said. "He became collateral damage to my fallout with management. Because of my fallout with management, he was tagged -- that's literally what they called him -- 'Oh yeah, the Paul Heyman guy.'
"This guy was a magnificent performer, an all-time performer, a WrestleMania main eventer, a top-of-the-card-worthy performer from the moment he walked through the door. But he fought against that perception and proved himself through his hard work, connection with his audience, and the fact that no matter how stupid of a concept they threw at him, he made it work... He was undeniable. You could not stop the progress no matter how they self-sabotaged their product."
