The real story of how CM Punk got signed by WWE (Exclusive)

WWE Hall of Famer Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat recently spoke about CM Punk, and revealed how the company ended up signing The Best in the World.

Ricky Steamboat stated that after observing CM Punk while refereeing his match at Ring of Honor, he immediately spoke with John Laurinaitis, who worked behind the scenes, in the talent relations office for the company from 2001 till he got sacked in 2022.

Speaking with Bill Apter on Sportskeeda Wrestling's WrestleBinge podcast, Steamboat revealed the conversation he had with Laurinaitis about signing CM Punk:

"It was Ring of Honor and they brought me up to be the special guest referee, and he was working with Samoa Joe. It was 12-15 years ago and they brought me as the special guest referee for the main event match. So I was the third guy in the ring and I listened to CM Punk lead the whole match for the whole hour, and that told me right there that this kid's got it. The psychology part, what to do, when to do it, why to do it at this time, why to do it at the beginning and not at the end, so forth and so on. He had all the nuts and bolts connected and that impressed me."

He further continued:

"At that time, I went back to John Laurinaitis, who was talent development, and said that you need to take a look at CM Punk and get him up here for an audition. John said, 'We've had him up here for a couple of times, we put him in the ring with one of our regulars for five minutes and didn't see much.' I said I was a referee in his match and he went through an hour Broadway and he called the whole match and this kid has the 'I got it'. He's got the 'it' thing and I think you should take another look and put him with one of our better, topper guys and let him do a 15 or 20-minute audition instead of a 3 to 5-minute, quicky in and out. So they got him up, he got in the ring for 20 minutes and he got hired." [16:00 - 18:15]

Jim Cornette believes WWE will bring CM Punk back

Wrestling veteran Jim Cornette recently talked about CM Punk and stated that the WWE will bring him back with open arms.

Speaking on the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, Cornette stated that the Stamford-based promotion will bring the former WWE Champion back, if he has the desire to step foot in the squared circle again:

"If CM Punk wants to go back to wrestling, they will take him because who else in the world right now, or for the next year, contractually would make a bigger difference in WWE's business than CM Punk? And how hot was Cody [Rhodes] at AEW when he goes there, and it's a whole new world. Punk is same thing. It only probably more magnified because he's more controversial. He's gotten more attention in the period of time leading up to his potential debut there whenever that may take place." [From 04:10 to 04:52]

He also added:

"And for the people who don't live their life on the internet, he's been away from wrestling for nine years now, not seven. And they're gonna f**king blow a gasket to see him back," he added. [From 05:05 to 05:17]

Do you want to see CM Punk return home to WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.