CM Punk once shed light on his rivalry with William Regal in WWE

CM Punk's relationship with William Regal has not always been as bad as it appears to be these days.

According to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net, Punk refused to shake Regal's hand at AEW Revolution 2022 and accused him of being a "stooge" for Triple H in WWE. The news came as a surprise to many fans, especially as the two men enjoyed working together during their WWE rivalry in 2008 and 2009.

On Punk's 2012 WWE DVD, Best in the World, Regal could not have been any more complimentary about the recently fired AEW star's in-ring ability:

"The rivalry that I had with CM Punk was probably the best thing that I've done on WWE television, as far as wrestling quality."

Punk also had nothing but good things to say about the way Regal treated him before and during his time in WWE:

"I developed a relationship with him prior to me even signing with WWE. He's one of the guys that believed in me from the start. He said he wanted to work with me, and that's a hell of a stamp of approval. I had a lot of fun getting the cr*p beat out of me every single day."

On January 19, 2009, Punk defeated Regal on RAW in his hometown of Chicago to win the Intercontinental Championship. At the time, the victory was one of the most significant of Punk's career.

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How CM Punk felt about dethroning William Regal

Although he liked sharing the ring with William Regal, CM Punk did not feel enthusiastic about winning the Intercontinental Championship for the first time.

The Voice of the Voiceless had reservations about holding another title after WWE's higher-ups previously cut his World Heavyweight Championship reign short after 69 days:

"It's another one of those, 'I'm still fighting for real estate,' sort of thing," Punk said. "Here I was looking around at everybody like, 'Okay, I was the Heavyweight Champion. I was that guy.' And then, 'Hey, I was the Tag Team Champion and we're still not doing anything.' It's like they moved me on and now I was the IC Champion, and it was still a fight. It was a fight to do anything."

AEW President Tony Khan recently terminated Punk's contract with the company following a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In. The blockbuster news prompted speculation that Punk could return to WWE, where Regal now works as the Vice President of Global Talent Development.

Would you like to see CM Punk back in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit CM Punk: Best in the World and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.