"He felt like he should've been John Cena" - Wrestling legend opens up on CM Punk's backstage attitude in WWE amid rumors of his AEW exit

CM Punk might be on his way out of AEW if recent rumors are to be believed. In light of his possible departure, Ric Flair spoke on his WWE tenure and his alleged ambitions to be bigger than John Cena.

John Cena is arguably one of the most prominent and recognizable figures in modern wrestling, second only to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Back in 2014, Punk wasn't a fan of The Champ, and this could have been one of the reasons he was unhappy in WWE.

On a recent episode of To Be the Man, Ric Flair weighed in on CM Punk possibly returning to WWE, but recounted the legal issues he had with the promotion.

"In this day and age, I can see anything! I wasn’t there during all that [Punk’s issues in WWE], and as I’ve said before I only know him to say 'hi.' But that lawsuit with the doctor and all that? I don’t know how the other guys would handle that." (08:11 onward).

Flair also believes that CM Punk was unfortunately not as great as John Cena on the WWE roster.

"I don’t think he was a candidate for Wrestler of the Year while he was there. And I think he thought he was better than John Cena, which is absolutely not the truth – as far as being the face of the company. (...) I’ve heard the remark that he felt like he should’ve been John Cena; just in my opinion that wouldn’t fly." (08:38 onward).

Despite Ric Flair's objections, another WWE veteran believes Triple H should bring CM Punk into the fold, if only to bury AEW entirely.

Missed out on AEW Rampage? Catch up on the show's results here.

Ric Flair believes CM Punk can still do better to cut promos

Pro-Wrestling is largely two-fold compared to other sports. While athleticism is important, the characters that wrestlers portray are more memorable factors. Because of this, Ric Flair is still regarded as one of the best.

When asked about the Straight Edge wrestler's skills on the mic, Flair said:

"If I knew how he got it together, if I spent more time with him, I could give you a better opinion. If it’s something they handed him to memorize, I don’t give it a D plus. If it’s something that he thought up on his own, then I give him a B plus." (09:30 onward).

While Punk is still fondly remembered for his heated pipe-bomb promo in WWE, The Nature Boy doesn't think he's one of the greats. Regardless, the former AEW World Champion was one of the promotion's biggest draws.

So have we heard the final promo of the former Second City Saint? Or will he return somehow?

Please credit To Be the Man and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.