WWE veteran believes CM Punk is "still in the driver’s seat" after backstage RAW visit

Former AEW World Champion CM Punk got the wrestling world talking once again this week when he made a surprise visit backstage on WWE RAW, and a wrestling veteran feels that the Straight Edge Superstar can still do what he wants because he's in the driver's seat.

Punk showed up at the Allstate Arena on April 24 to catch up with some old friends at the WWE RAW event that was taking place that night, which apparently led to him talking to people like The Miz and Triple H.

The former AEW World Champion was reportedly ushered out of the building shortly after, but not before the wrestling world began speculating about what he was doing, who else he spoke to, and what this had to do with his future in All Elite Wrestling.

Speaking on his podcast, Story Time, Dutch Mantell weighed in with his thoughts on the situation. He initially felt that the decision to escort him out of the building was the right thing to do by the man who made the call, Vince McMahon.

"Good call by Vince [McMahon]. He has to tell him to leave because now you get into the legal area, talking to him and the longer he hangs around. I would like to be a fly on the wall when Tony Khan hears this stuff. 'Wait a minute, he was backstage at RAW? What the f**k?’—but I think the CM Punk thing gets more interesting every time I hear something about it," said the veteran [From 0:49 to 2:16]

Mantell went on to state that AEW needs Punk for their big shows in Chicago in June and the All In event at Wembley Stadium, leading Dutch to think that the former WWE Champion is in control of everything.

"Now they [AEW] want CM Punk because they’ve got this big Chicago show coming up, they’ve got Wembley coming up so they kind of need him, and then he shows up at Raw taping and was photographed in the parking lot with some people. I don’t know I think Punk’s still in the driver’s seat."[From 03:53 to 04:16]

Dutch Mantell thought that CM Punk was very easy to work with

While CM Punk has always been an outspoken personality, there was a time when he wasn't such a controversial figure in the wrestling world. This is the Punk that Dutch Mantell remembers during their time in TNA together.

Mantell stated on his podcast that the future WWE Champion was very pleasant and easy to do business with when he crossed paths with Punk in TNA Wrestling between 2002 and 2004.

Punk eventually chose to side with Ring of Honor in 2004 after TNA's working relationship with ROH broke down due to a scandal with the former owner of Ring of Honor. This led TNA to force their wrestlers to choose to work for them or ROH, with Punk choosing Ring of Honor.

Did you know CM Punk worked for TNA? Let us know in the comments section down below!

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.