CM Punk needed WWE Bash in Berlin win, says veteran: "He's got to win one every 10 years"

Nobody could have anticipated CM Punk wrestling for WWE in 2024. However, he is arguably one of WWE's biggest attractions at the moment, and he recently won a Strap match against Drew McIntyre.

Wrestling veteran Jim Cornette speculated this was a huge part of the reason WWE decided to give The Straight Edge Superstar such a decisive win over The Scottish Warrior at Bash in Berlin on August 31. Cornette feels that if CM Punk had lost this match, too, his stock would have been affected.

Reviewing the Strap Match on his podcast, the Jim Cornette Experience, the veteran was all praise, albeit noting that it dragged in parts. He also pointed to Punk's victory over McIntyre, which marked the former AEW World Champion's first WWE win in over a decade:

"They said that was the first WWE match he's won in 10 years. So, he's got to win one every 10 years, I think at this point, doesn't he?" Jim Cornette joked. "You can't think that Drew McIntyre is going to let this thing go. But at the same time, if he had f***ed Punk in this instance, then you start taking more out of Punk's bank account, as far as goodwill and his over account. He had to come back and show that he was going to do something. [...] I thought it was a heck of a Strap Match," he added. [From 8:30 - 10:05]

On RAW after Bash in Berlin, CM Punk put World Heavyweight Champion Gunther on notice, only for Drew McIntyre to interrupt his promo and brutally batter him. All signs point to a rubber match, possibly at Bad Blood next month.

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Drew McIntyre recounts his reaction to CM Punk's WWE return in November 2023

At Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25, 2023, though fans wanted to witness it, CM Punk's return shocked them because it was too hard to fathom as a reality.

Drew McIntyre recently revealed that he had exited the Allstate Arena—where the event took place—that night, and it wasn't because of his loss alongside The Judgment Day in the WarGames Match. Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, he claimed that Punk was the reason he did not want to stay.

"I couldn't have stood out there if somebody's that close to me that I don't like that much. I wouldn't stand and swear and have people hold me back. I would have walked right up to him and punched him in the face, so I chose to leave the building," said Drew McIntyre.

With the intensity of their hatred towards one another, it makes sense for CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre III to be contested inside Hell in a Cell. There have already been rumblings about this stipulation being added.

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If you use the first quote, please credit the Jim Cornette Experience and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.