WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross discussed CM Punk’s return to Survivor Series on the latest “Grilling JR” podcast. Ross stated that he did not watch the show live, but his mentions went viral, and he learned about Punk’s return quickly. Punk’s career change was supported by Ross.
“It was a perfect booking decision,” Ross said. “It was a great creative move. (The pop) was sustained chaos. I guarantee you there’s a lot of AEW fans that went to Survivor Series. They’re wrestling fans. They don’t have this brand-bullsh*t where I’m only going to support one brand. So you must not really be a wrestling fan then, right? How could you be a wrestling fan and not be happy for the success of others within your industry? I don’t get it. So anyway, it was great booking, good judgment by Paul Levesque. It was the perfect end to the show.”
JR also admitted that, despite their friendship, he does not always agree with Punk.
“Phil’s a friend. I didn’t always agree with him, and I certainly agreed with him more than not on some of his issues. I don’t know, man. He’s just a friend. I’m happy for my friends that find success in their chosen vocation. I wish him the best of luck on his journey. I don’t agree with all the sh*t that went on with him. I think he could have handled it a little differently as probably everybody could if you go back and look at it in hindsight. But the bottom line is he left and he was a great get, timely, and I loved the surprise.”
Punk, according to Ross, is one of the people who checks in on him to see how he’s doing. Conrad Thompson later clarified that Ross’ comments about the “sh*t that went on with him” refer to events from Punk’s previous WWE tenure.
