Eric Bischoff Explains Why He Felt Bad For CM Punk During WWE Raw Promo
Eric Bischoff has assessed CM Punk's recent promo on "WWE Raw," and explained why he feels bad for the "Second City Saint."
During the recent edition of "Raw" in Punk's hometown of Chicago, the WWE star cut a promo on both Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins, and seemingly declared that he will be on commentary for their match at WrestleMania 40. Bischoff, during his recent "83 Weeks" podcast, stated that Punk is in a "tough spot" because he can't get in the ring anytime soon.
"Sitting through that, I actually felt bad, I empathized with Punk because he's not going to be ... he can't wrestle," said Bischoff. "You can't really do anything physical in the ring. Obviously, the audience wanted to see him, they wanted him to be a real part of the show, it's evident, but that's a tough spot to be in. It's a tough spot to be in when you can't do anything and everybody knows you can't do it."
Punk, in his promo, took shots at McIntyre and Rollins, and even referenced Vince McMahon, without naming him. The segment was well-received by fans, and the powers-that-be backstage were seemingly pleased with it, despite the mention of the former WWE CEO.
The segment seemed to have helped "Raw's" ratings as 2.2 million people watched that quarter of the show, leading to an overall increase in viewership from last week. Bischoff stated that he liked the promo but pointed out one issue he found with it concerning Punk.
Bischoff's one criticism of the segment
Eric Bischoff added that the segment on "WWE Raw" underlined the point that CM Punk would be on commentary far too much. He highlighted how Punk won't be ready to get in the ring anytime soon and questioned whether the larger audience would like to hear Punk on commentary.
"So I thought, as I'm listening to this — and I listen to it closely — I'm thinking, 'Man, they're spending a lot of time just to make a point that CM Punk's going to be in commentary.' Like, who the f**k cares, really? I mean if you're a big CM Punk fan, of course, you're gonna be happy. But it's not like he's going to go out there and do anything other than run his mouth. I don't know what the timeline is for him to get back in the ring. I'm guessing it's not going to be like a week after WrestleMania he's going to be in a match or he's going to be in a program," said the Hall of Famer.
Despite his criticism, Bischoff was pleased with the unscripted nature of the Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins segment.
"There were some awkward moments and reactions because my feeling was it was scripted but it was loosely scripted. I could be wrong, but it had enough peaks and valleys in terms of its quality. It didn't feel scripted. It wasn't as fluid as scripted promos tend to be therefore it felt real and I love that."