Cody and Brandi Rhodes recently appeared on Collider Live to hype up AEW’s upcoming television debut on TNT this coming Wednesday. During their interview, the subject of CM Punk appearing for the promotion was brought up, and Cody had this to say:
50/50? I really liked Phil and he was really nice to me when I was in OVW as kind of a locker room leader and then he has such a successful run in WWE. I never really had an adversarial relationship with him. I know he doesn’t like when we discuss him, but I explained it to him once; a lot of people ask us about him. I don’t want to say ‘no comment.’ Perhaps he doesn’t want to be involved in wrestling anymore. If that’s the case, no big deal. You gave us your body and this body of work and CM Punk was an awesome wrestler.
The American Nightmare would then address Punk’s interview with ESPN back in July, where Punk claimed to have received text offers from AEW, but no substantial conversation had been had. Cody admits that those comments made management look silly, and that they were more focused on bringing in stars who truly wanted to commit to wrestling. He also commends Punk’s recent Starrcast special, and says the door will always be open if he decides to return.
He did kind of make us look like dumbasses, saying we sent him a text offer. I’m sure we texted him, but we also called him. Someone also met him in a coffee shop. We made genuine efforts. In 2019, [he’s had] quite some time away from the ring, we gotta focus on who really wants to be on board with us versus going out and finding someone who perhaps doesn’t want to be part of this. I didn’t really communicate with him further after that. I expected to see him at Starrcast. He gave this great live show where he was great with his answers. I’m sure we’ll run into each other at some point.”
If he ever wanted to be part of this and had the passion to come back to wrestling, that door is always open. No ego, no situation would ever prevent us from having him come in because the fans have never given up on Punk. Ever.
Check out his full comments below. (H/T and transcribed by Fightful.)
