Eric Bischoff calls out CM Punk for underdelivering in AEW. The former WWE star has been accused of not living up to the hype since joining AEW.
CM Punk broke the internet with his return to pro-wrestling after 7 long years. The former WWE Champion made his way into AEW with a lot of hype around him. Punk went on to state that he and Bryan joining AEW was more significant than when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall jumped ship from WWE to WCW.
Eric Bischoff, the former WCW president, went in depth about Punk’s tenure in AEW on the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast,. He dragged him down for his comments and declared that Punk has failed to live to the hype and has done nothing of note to help the product.
Eric Bischoff calls out CM Punk for underdelivering in AEW
“When Punk came out and said that the AEW signing of him and Daniel Bryan was more significant than Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, well I kind of disagree with that. Yes CM Punk was at a high level, 7 fricking years ago when he was at his peak performance role in WWE. That was 7 years ago.
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were fresh off of WWE TV so you can debate significance because it’s another subjective term that’s unquantifiable and I’m not going to bother to do that. I’ll defer to the court, I’ll submit Punk’s position but what I found interesting is after Punk showed up with all his significance, far more significance than Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, only to see AEW lose viewership over the course of the next two or three weeks.
“Over that two-three week slide, Punk comes out and says ‘It’s going to take five years before anybody really notices,’ hahaha. That to me was like okay dude. And let’s go back a little further, when CM Punk felt the need to come out in his debut and disparage Hulk Hogan the way that he did.
CM Punk doesn’t know Hulk Hogan. Never worked with Hulk Hogan, doesn’t know anything about Hulk Hogan. But he’s trying to get himself over with that dirt sheet/anti-Hogan community and then comparing himself above Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, categorizing himself as more significant and then to come out and when it’s time to deliver, way under delivered. Way under delivered, it bears pointing out. If you’re going to talk s–t and talk smack, then you have to be prepared for others to talk s–t and talk smack back.”
CM Punk and Tony Khan have showed signs of weakness
Bischoff then turned his attention to Tony Khan, who he believes also disparages others to get himself over just like Punk does.
“It’s the same thing with Tony, when Tony came out and said what he said about WCW and me and the mistakes I’ve made and all the happy dirtsheet horse s–t that gets repeated so often, I’m going to respond to that. Why would anybody be surprised that I would respond to that? Why would anybody think I wouldn’t?
I have nothing against CM Punk, I’m looking forward to watching him grow and build the AEW brand, I hope he does. What I’ve seen so far, I’m not going to bet all my money on it but I’m hopeful. When people come out and they disparage others in an attempt to get themselves over however elegant they think they may be doing it, it’s a cry.
“To me, it’s a sign of weakness so I’m going to do my best not to react too much. This stuff is two weeks old now, unless somebody comes out with some new s–t and says some other stupid things that I feel the need to react to, I’m jus going to watching Dynamite on TV and Rampage on TV and Monday Night RAW on TV and SmackDown when I can and I’m going to enjoy the show and hope for the best.”
Bischoff explains why AEW is to blame for CM Punk underdelivering
“No story. Because you had all this anticipation, Punk’s coming, Bryan Danielson is coming, this guys coming, this girls coming, everybody’s coming, this is going to be great. They came, they saw, nothing really happened, you got a big pop, yay, the crowd reacted, that was awesome, sold a bunch of t-shirts that was awesome, now what?
There’s no now what. It’s not episodic. Come on. That’s the example. How many people tuned into Rampage when Punk showed up? 1.3 [million]? 1.3 showed up and how many showed up three weeks later? 500,000. Why’s that? Because you didn’t give them a reason to come back! That’s why!”
“I think it’s a mistake to put Punk on such a pedestal that you think he’s so over that all he has to do is show up and sprinkle Punk dust on his opponent and that Punk dust is going to elevate his other opponent and not take anything away from Punk.
I think Punk, the way he’s being used now, this is constructive criticism, I think that they diminished the perception. There was a ton of perception, great equity in that perception and then he shows up, does a great promo, gets a great reaction and then does kind of pretty much nothing.
I’m not putting myself over but compared to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash because I’m not the one who did it first, Punk did, but Scott Hall and Kevin Nash showed up immediately in the story and s–t went through the roof and stayed that way for a long time. Showing up and getting that big pop and then having nothing for two or three weeks in a row doesn’t help Punk, doesn’t help the product.”
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