Paul Heyman On Working With CM Punk, Being Pitched the Idea By Vince McMahon, His and Punk’s Reaction

Paul Heyman was a big part of CM Punk’s top run in WWE, and he recalled working with the former WWE star in a Q&A with Inside the Ropes. Heyman helped facilitate Punk’s 2012 heel turn and was was paired with him during Punk’s 434-day WWE Championship reign. Heyman recalled how Vince McMahon pitched him on the pairing, and what he and Punk said to each other off-screen during the big reveal on Raw that the two were working together; you can check out highlights below:

On his first experiences with Punk: “Well, I met Phil Brooks, CM Punk, when I was on the tail end of my five-year contract when I joined WWE. And I had been, this was right after ECW One Night Stand, the first one. And I was asked to go to OVW and write and produce their television for Wednesdays. And one of the talent that I got sent early on was Phil Brooks, CM Punk, who had worked for my protege Gabe Sapolsky in Ring of Honor. And had built quite a reputation of a, being a fantastic performer. And b, having ideas of his own, oh no! Oh God forbid, someone has an idea of his own about his own character, to make himself break through the glass ceiling that so obviously existed!

“So they brought CM Punk in, because he had all this buzz on the internet. And they really didn’t know what to do with him. And that’s what they said to him. They go, ‘Hey um, how do you want to–‘ He had a match, a dark match that wasn’t going to be on television. And a certain person went up to him and said, ‘What’s your finish?’ Well, his finish was a Pedigree off the top rope called the Pepsi Plunge. Not the best political thing to present to WWE at the time. SO he said, ‘I don’t know, what finish do you want me to do?’ And they said, ‘Do one of those flippy-dippy things like Jeff Hardy.’ And he said, ‘Well, I don’t do flippy-dippy things like Jeff Hardy!’ And they looked at him and honestly, they said, ‘You don’t?’ ‘No! Have you ever watched any of my matches?’ ‘No, we just read about you on the internet.’ And that’s why they hired him!”

On being paired with Punk: “[Myself and Brock Lesnar] got to SummerSlam, we did SummerSlam, tapped out Triple H, broke his arm. Said goodbye the next night on Los Angeles on television. And that’s it. Brock and I were off until February. Vince had the idea the next Monday in Chicago. Key point of this whole story, in Chicago, of the season premiere of Monday Night Raw, which will feature something. Something in which CM Punk now fully goes heel. How do you turn CM Punk heel in Chicago? Make it even more difficult? We’re gonna turn him heel on John Cena. Because Night of Champions is on Boston, which is John Cena’s hometown where they’re sure to boo John Cena and cheer CM Punk! So Vince comes up with the idea, ‘If I can’t make them boo him, I can at least make them gasp! We’re going to go for gasping!’ Oxygen deprivation is one way, I don’t know! How are you gonna make them gasp?”

On Vince McMahon pitching it to him: “So I get a phone call and it’s from Vince. And we didn’t have much interaction going into SummerSlam. It was still kind of sore…and you know, ‘Hey pal, wanna talk to you about — how do you envision, um, uh…what are you gonna be doing? You’re off until February, maybe March. What are you doing next Monday?’ ‘Watching the show from Chicago on television.’ And he says, ‘Well, that’s interesting, I’d like you to have an up-close seat. I have this idea about you working with somebody else. Not just Brock Lesnar on my show.’ And I go, ‘You know Vince, I don’t think we oughta go there. I’m real happy with Brock, real happy with our deal. I wanna do that thing going into WrestleMania’ … ‘Don’t put me with anybody! I’m happy with Brock Lesnar! Why would you even think about — we don’t even get along with each other. Why, who you gonna put me with?’ [Vince says] ‘CM Punk!’ ‘Aw, f**k, I’ll see you Monday!’

On his and Punk’s reaction to being teamed up: “I’ll never forget, the camera’s on the ring. And Cena’s laid out, and Punk runs to the back and hops in the car. And the camera cuts back to the ring. And we know we have 20 seconds before we get the signal, camera’s back on us, start driving the car. And we’re sitting there, and we’re both ducked down in case the cameras accidentally cut, and we don’t want to reveal that we’re in the car together [yet] … And I look over at him, and he says ‘Can you believe they’re f***ing putting us together?’ And I’m like ‘We’re both gonna be f***ing fired in the next four weeks, don’t you get it?’ And he goes ‘But the s**t we’re going to stir in four weeks! They don’t f***ing have a clue!’ I loved working with him, I loved it. I had the time of my life.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Inside the Ropes with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.