CM Punk Reveals Journey to Becoming a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’

CM Punk has worked with many top names in the world of professional wrestling but it’s clear just how much influence Paul Heyman had on his career in WWE. Punk is viewed as one of the true ‘Paul Heyman Guys’ and he has now revealed how that happened.

CM Punk was managed by Heyman from 2012 until he was eventually betrayed by Heyman at Money in the Bank in 2013. Long before then, Paul Heyman was the one person who would support The Second City Saint backstage when Punk joined WWE.

While speaking to the No Contest Wrestling podcast, CM Punk revealed his journey to becoming a Paul Heyman guy, starting when he signed with Ohio Valley Wrestling. He explains that wrestling was very different back then, almost like two separate worlds compared to now. When he first signed, John Laurinaitis was his main contact, and he was told he would go straight to the main roster. However, that didn’t happen, and he ended up in OVW.

After signing, Punk received a message from Jim Cornette, who was excited about him joining the team. Cornette had big plans for him, which made Punk feel hopeful. Unfortunately, just a week later, Cornette called to say he had been fired. This news made Punk worried about his future, especially since he was surrounded by so many successful wrestlers.

“Yeah, we met in OVW when I got signed. The system was completely different; it’s like two completely different planets now. So I got signed, and my main point of contact was John Laurinaitis. He tells me that we don’t think we’re going to send you to OVW; we’re going to put you right on the main roster. Oh cool, great! But that didn’t work out, and they didn’t know what to do with me, so then they sent me to OVW. When I got signed, I either got a phone call or an email from Jim Cornette saying, ‘Hey kid, super excited! You’re coming down here now. This is gonna be great! Can’t wait to work with you! I already got ideas!’ I was just like, ‘Wow, Jim Cornette!’

I thought, ‘Oh man, this is going to be great. I get to work under Jim Cornette.’ Then, about a week later, he calls me and says, ‘Goddamn it, kid, I got fired!’ So I’m immediately back to, ‘Oh well, there goes my life. My career is over.’ The culture was such that, at that time, I was looked at negatively. ‘Oh, he’s too indie; he’s too this, he’s too that.’

At that time, the main roster included big names like The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Batista, Randy Orton, and John Cena. Punk felt intimidated by the thought of competing for TV time against these legends. After Cornette left, Punk felt alone and thought he would be released soon since he didn’t have many friends in the business.

Things changed when Paul Heyman came to OVW. Although Punk was initially sad about not learning from Cornette, he became excited about working with Heyman. He committed himself to learning as much as possible during the time he thought he had before he might get fired.

”At that time, the main roster, when I got called up on TV in 2006, was a murderer’s row of top, top guys—nothing but Hall of Famers. Taker was still on the road full-time, Kane was on the road full-time, Triple H was a full-time wrestler, HBK was just starting to not do as many house shows but still did them, and Flair was a main roster full-time talent. Edge, Rey Mysterio, Batista, nasty Batista, Randy—like, Cena. So there are eleven guys right there, and it’s just like, how are you going to fight for TV time against all these Hall of Famers?

So, Cornette gets fired, and I’m just like, ‘Ah, great.’ I always kind of operated under the idea that this is fleeting; I’m going to get released. I didn’t have any allies, I didn’t have any friends—no one’s got your back. Then I go down to OVW, and boom, they put Paul Heyman there. I was disappointed I couldn’t learn from Jim Cornette, but excited to learn from Paul Heyman. I made friends with Danny Davis, who’s equally a legend and has done everything.”

Punk talked about how Heyman would arrive in Louisville late on Tuesdays, and Punk would pick him up and take him to the Davis Arena. He watched how Heyman created TV shows, learning how to write and format them. Punk admired how easily Heyman handled the work, which taught him a lot.

As they worked together, Heyman would ask Punk for his opinions and ideas. Punk realized that some of his suggestions were actually making it onto the TV show. While he felt proud, he also worried that people might find out about his contributions, which could cause him more trouble.

After tapings, Punk spent long hours in a small room with Danny Davis and Heyman, editing the show and learning from both of them. However, Punk quickly realized that Heyman was at OVW because he had issues with others in the business. This made Punk’s connection to Heyman tricky; while he learned a lot, it also led to more people disliking him.

”I dedicated myself to learning as much as I could in that window that I thought I had until I got fired. Heyman would fly into Louisville at about 9:10 p.m. on a Tuesday. I would pick him up at the airport, and we’d go right to the Davis Arena. I would either watch him write TV and format it; he did it like it was me making a cup of coffee. He was doing all this stuff, and then he slides it over to me and says, ‘What do you think? What don’t you understand? What is this?’ I learned how to format a show; I learned how to time out a show, half a second in, half a second out for commercials. I learned all this stuff, and then he starts asking me questions: ‘What do you think of this idea? What would you do?’

The next thing I know, that idea is on the television show. I’m like, ‘Am I writing the television show?’ With the business being the way it was, I did not want anybody to find that out because that would just have been more heat on me. Then we’d do TV Wednesday night, and I would spend all Wednesday night in this little closet of a room with Danny Davis and Paul Heyman editing the show. I learned how to edit it, and I would just sit there while they were screaming at each other—two old school dudes just yelling at each other.

I just tried to learn as much as I could. That was my first experience with Paul Heyman, but I learned very fast that he was down there because other people didn’t like him either. So me becoming a Paul Heyman guy was more of a scarlet letter on me than anything else. It was just like, ‘Yeah, we don’t like Punk; oh, Heyman likes him now? I hate him!’ Again, it was one of those things where I was kind of confused, but my attitude was like, ‘Oh, f*** me? No, f*** you.'”

CM Punk is already back in WWE and has obviously interacted with Paul Heyman on television, even giving him a hug back in June this year. Heyman also believed that Punk had to go through hell in order for him to make his return to WWE last year, something that resonated with many. Nonetheless, Punk will forever have respect for Paul Heyman and fans truly believe their partnership was one of the best in WWE history.

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