WWE legend says he only paid attention to former world champion after Paul Heyman started "putting him over"

WWE's Paul Heyman is widely praised for his managerial skills in the pro wrestling industry, as most of his allies have reached main-event status over the years. According to Rob Van Dam, he only started noticing CM Punk after Heyman began to vouch for him backstage.

The Second City Saint's pairing with Heyman was highly popular among fans. The two joined forces on WWE TV during the former's 434-day world championship reign. However, Roman Reigns' Special Counsel had his eye on CM Punk from before. RVD recently recalled an incident involving Test, Punk, and Kelly Kelly.

During a recent episode of his 1 Of A Kind podcast, Rob Van Dam explained that CM Punk was helping Test out while the WWE stars were all on tour.

“The first time I remember really paying attention to [CM Punk] was when Paul [Heyman] started putting him over. Kelly Kelly was on the tour that CM Punk and I were on, and Test was on the other one. And Test was checking up on Kelly, like really hard, and doing that through CM Punk."

RVD further mentioned how Paul Heyman backed CM Punk in a fight with Test.

"My understanding of it is that after a little bit, CM was like, ‘F*ck him. He can take care of his own relationship. And Paul Heyman said that Test’s response when CM said whatever or quit responding in the way that he wanted him to; Paul said that Test said, ‘Does he think I won't slap him?’ And Paul's response was, ‘Oh, my money's on the tattooed kid.’” (H/T: Wrestling Writing)

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Missed out on last night's episode of AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.

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Tony Khan breaks silence on the former WWE Champion's return promo during AEW Collision

While some are speculating about CM Punk's current relationship with AEW, Dave Meltzer recently pointed out the star still seems to be in Tony Khan's good books.

According to Khan, he was happy to hear The Second City Saint speak his mind on AEW Collision's premiere. On an episode of Busted Open Radio, the AEW President noted:

"I thought that it was a great show. CM Punk spoke his mind in the opening segment, and it set up for a very compelling main event. We saw CM Punk prove in the ring that he's still got it." (H/T: Fightful)

It remains to be seen how Punk's current AEW run will turn out. The former WWE Champion even appeared on this week's Dynamite, indicating that he might now have a cordial relationship with most of his colleagues in the company.