On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T reacted to CM Punk’s recent
“MMA Hour” interview where the Second City Saint made several negative remarks about AEW while discussing his issues with AEW President Tony Khan, The Elite, Colt Cabana, Jack Perry, and others.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On CM Punk’s negative AEW comments: “Well, my perspective didn’t change any. I mean, I felt the same way about CM Punk pretty much throughout… you know, on this show, a lot of times, it’s taken out of context. As far as constructive criticism goes for me, anyway. Talking about CM Punk, it seems like if I say anything about CM Punk, somebody wants to try to make it negative. And most of the time, it’s just constructive criticism. I talked about CM Punk coming into AEW and dealing with a bunch of young guys that feel a certain way. And I talked about how CM Punk would have to go down to their level in order to bring them up to his level. Did that happen? I don’t know. But I do know it was very, very turbulent for CM Punk throughout his run at AEW. Which it seems like — normally when you make a lot of money, that cures mostly anything. That normally everything alright. But even making a boatload of money over there, the situation just wasn’t right enough to where he could stay. He had to get up out of there.”
On Punk saying that Khan is a nice guy but not a boss and calling him a clown after All In incident: “You know, some of the comments as far as you know, ‘It’s not a business. Tony Khan is not a boss’… Well you know, I ain’t gonna go there [Khan being a clown]. But a lot of that stuff is stuff that I’ve said. I’ve said it many, many times. It’s just like me with Reality of Wrestling, I love all the guys that come and perform and work for me, but I can’t really get close to the guys. I can’t become like, friends and buddies with the guys. Because you know, I may have to fire him. I may have to tell them, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna be booking you anymore.’ The work may not be up to par something and I I might have to say it, and say it in a certain way. And when you do that, you can’t be friends with a lot of these guys. And I feel like that’s one of Tony Khan’s biggest mistakes, is just being too friendly with the talent. Not that you can’t be friendly with the talent. But being friends with the talent, it can become a problem. It’s just my opinion.
“And I’d say that because of being in WCW and watching how the NWO and Eric Bischoff, all those guys, they became like buddies. And me personally sitting there watching it, I was like, ‘Man, this is not something that seemed like it should be right for a company that’s trying to grow.’ That was just me. And then when I got to WWE, I saw how my boss worked. It was always business.”
On Khan being friends with the talent: “You can be a nice guy, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying you can’t be — just like say for instance, I’m not going to be calling the boss over the weekend and say, ‘Hey, man, what’s going on? How’s the fam? I mean, everything’s good? You’re watching any good movies lately?’ I’m serious. For me, if any one of my guys calls me, it better be business-related. Seriously, it better not be — you know, I get birthday wishes and stuff like that, texts. So that kind of stuff is cool. But to say, ‘Hey, man, let’s go to Top Golf and hang out.’ I’m not going to do that with guys that work for me, because I think it can become a conflict of interest… The boss can never really put himself on the same level as everybody else. That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong. I can be 100% wrong.”
In a recent episode of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T shared his thoughts on CM Punk’s recent interview on “MMA Hour,” where Punk made several negative remarks about All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its president, Tony Khan. Booker T provided his perspective on Punk’s comments and discussed the importance of maintaining a professional relationship between management and talent.
Booker T began by stating that his perspective on CM Punk had not changed throughout the years. He mentioned that whenever he offers constructive criticism about Punk, it is often taken out of context and portrayed as negative. Booker T previously discussed how Punk would have to adapt to working with younger talents in AEW and bring them up to his level. However, he acknowledged that it seemed like Punk’s time in AEW was turbulent, despite the financial success he achieved.
Regarding Punk’s comments about Tony Khan, Booker T agreed with some of the points made. He mentioned that as a promoter and boss, it is essential to maintain a professional distance from the talent. Booker T drew a parallel to his own promotion, Reality of Wrestling, where he loves and respects the performers but cannot become too close to them due to the possibility of having to make tough decisions such as firing someone or criticizing their work. He believed that Tony Khan’s mistake was being too friendly with the talent, which could lead to conflicts of interest.
Booker T cited his experience in WCW, where he observed the NWO and Eric Bischoff becoming friends with the talent. He felt that this approach was not conducive to a company’s growth. In contrast, when he joined WWE, he witnessed a more business-oriented relationship between management and talent.
Booker T clarified that being a nice person is not the issue; rather, it is about maintaining a professional boundary. He emphasized that personal conversations with talent should primarily revolve around business matters. While he appreciated birthday wishes and occasional friendly texts, he believed that going out for social activities with employees could blur the lines and create conflicts of interest. Booker T acknowledged that his opinion might not be universally applicable, but he believed that a boss should never put themselves on the same level as their employees.
In conclusion, Booker T provided his perspective on CM Punk’s negative remarks about AEW and Tony Khan. He discussed the importance of maintaining a professional relationship between management and talent, drawing from his own experiences in WCW and WWE. While acknowledging that his opinion might not be shared by everyone, Booker T emphasized the need for bosses to establish boundaries and avoid becoming too friendly with their employees.