WWE Hall of Famer refuses to share his true opinion on CM Punk and Samoa Joe's match due to friendship

A WWE Hall Famer recently refused to share his true opinion on the CM Punk versus Samoa Joe, held on the last week's episode of AEW Collision.

CM Punk and Samoa Joe are world-traveled athletes who have worked for WWE and ROH and are currently signed to AEW. During the last week's episode of AEW Collision, Punk faced Joe in the semi-final of the Owen Hart Tournament, a match considered 18 years in the making.

Their showdown was well-received by the fans and critics, but WWE Hall of Famer Booker T refused to share his true opinion on the match due to his friendship with Samoa Joe on an episode of The Hall Of Fame podcast.

Going into the match, the story was that these two superstars faced each other on multiple occasions during their wrestling careers, with their last encounter taking place 18 years ago. Joe got the best of Punk in all their matches and was presented as an insurmountable mountain that Punk must conquer this time.

Booker T did not directly comment on their match in AEW but shared the difficulties wrestlers face when they try to recreate their previous encounters after such a long time. According to Booker, it is always hard to recreate and top what you did 'once upon a time.' He inferred that it seemed those guys were trying but unable to do it.

"I'm gonna reserve my opinion because I like Samoa Joe. He's a friend of mine. CM Punk is a guy that I have no ill will towards as well," Booker explained. "I'm gonna say this about the match ... It's so hard to go out there and recreate something that you did once upon a time and top what you did once upon a time. Trust me. The best-of-seven series when I did it in WCW was one thing, but [in] the best-of-seven series in WWE, my bones was like, 'What the hell am I thinking?' That's what it looked like to me. It looked like those guys are like, 'Man, this ain't like it was in our 20s.'" [H/T: Wresling Inc]

By his remarks, it seems Booker T enjoyed their previous encounters more than this. However, he chose not to comment out of respect and relations with the two athletes.

CM Punk is set to face Ricky Starks on AEW Collision

With his hard-fought victory over Samoa Joe, CM Punk has moved on to the finals of the Owen Hart tournament, where he will take on Ricky Starks.

The former FTW Champion, Ricky Starks defeated Power House Hobbs in the semi-final to enter the final.

Punk and Starks will battle on the next episode of AEW Collision to decide the 2023 Owen Hart Tournament winner.

What are your views about the match between CM Punk and Samoa Joe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.