11 Things We Learned From CM Punk's Latest Oral Sessions Appearance

CM Punk's "gateway" back to wrestling, lessons from Eddie Guerrero, and heat with Orange Cassidy.

by Andrew Pollard
Renee Young CM Punk
Oral Sessions

The latest episode of Renee Paquette's brilliant Oral Sessions podcast has dropped today, and the perfect timely guest alongside Renee this time out is none other than CM Punk.

Punk has previously appeared on Oral Sessions, of course, but that was at a time when the Straight-Edge Superstar had yet to become #AllElite.

This time out, the Chicago native chewed the fat with Paquette for 45 minutes, detailing his early impressions with AEW, how his signing came about, and covering a whole slew of other topics in what is a hugely entertaining discussion. And in typical CM Punk fashion, there is plenty to take away from this chat.

Across this appearance, Punk touches on WWE topics, talks about what got him to seriously consider a return to the ring, brings up Bryan Danielson ahead of his rumoured AEW debut, makes mention of his "real heat" with Orange Cassidy, and just generally provides a fascinating listen in the way that only the Second City Saint can.

With all of that in mind, then, here are 11 things we learned from CM Punk's latest appearance on Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions.

11. WWE Backstage Was The "Gateway" To His Wrestling Return

Renee Young CM Punk
Fox

To many wrestling fans, WWE Backstage was brought to a close way, way too soon. And for CM Punk, he credits that show with serving as the "gateway" to his return to the squared circle.

As Punk explained to Renee:

"It was kind of, like, the gateway to opening up the possibility in my head that wrestling could've been an option."

Both CM Punk and Renee Paquette had nothing but good things to say about WWE Backstage and about working with FOX. For the Second City Saint, he was also adamant that he didn't want anything to directly do with WWE, and that he was 100% only interested in working for FOX during this time.

Punk would note how he wanted transparency and honesty from FOX, and that is exactly what he got - with them flying out to Milwaukee to meet with him and explain how they wanted to produce an analysis-based show as part of their pick-up of SmackDown.

Where WWE Backstage is concerned, that show has technically not been formally cancelled as of this writing. Instead, June 2020 saw FS1 announce that production on the series was indefinitely suspended.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.