Paul Heyman Reveals That CM Punk Was Dragged Down in WWE Because of Perception of Him as a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’

– During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri for CBS Sports, The Wise Man Paul Heyman discussed the career of CM Punk and more. According to Heyman, early in Punk’s WWE career, CM Punk was hurt by the perception from Vince McMahon that he was a “Paul Heyman Guy,” and that Punk was only helped by working with Heyman. Below are some highlights:

Heyman on the evolution of Punk’s character: “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, 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.”

On the perception by Vince McMahon that Punk was only helped by Heyman’s “smoke and mirrors” approach: “CM Punk battled against the perception that he was only a ‘Paul Heyman guy.’ He got unfortunately dragged down by that tag. 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.'”

On how Punk had to fight against that perception: “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.”

Paul Heyman returned on WWE SmackDown last week and revealed CM Punk as the fifth member of The OG Bloodline’s team against The Bloodline in WarGames at WWE Survivor Series. The premium live event is scheduled for Saturday, November 30 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It will be broadcast live on Peacock.