News broke late last week that the latest episode of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions will feature none other than current All Elite Wrestling star Chris Jericho. CM Punk was asked about that announcement during an interview with TMZ this week and stated that decision says more about how Vince McMahon views the Jacksonville-based promotion than people may realize.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I think it’s interesting, for sure,” Punk said. “Obviously I understand the buzz. Maybe I’ll give it a shot and I’ll watch it, but it feels like it’s going to be softball questions. I don’t if they’re going to ask Jericho all the tough questions and nor do I think that they possibly should. It’s an interesting situation so it’ll probably be a feel good interview where they talk about Jericho’s past at WWE. I’m sure they’ll mention AEW, but they won’t get into the hard questions that I think a lot people will be interested in.”
“Honestly, my knee-jerk reaction and opinion is that I think it shows Vince McMahon isn’t afraid of AEW at all,” he continued. “Because if he was, he wouldn’t allow that to happen. Anytime anybody is talking about you, it’s good. There will be people that don’t know AEW exists who will watch it and say, ‘Oh wow cool, I didn’t know that. I just thought Jericho was retired.’ There is also something to be said about keeping your guys special and the only place you can see this superstar is on my television show. But it’s a new age and both companies need all the eyeballs they can get at the moment. So kudos to everybody involved.”
Punk was also asked about his futures in both wrestling and MMA and he couldn’t say outright which one he’s more likely to return to. He’s picked up a few horror movie roles in recent years in Girl on the Third Floor, Rabid and Jakob’s Wife and has been confirmed for the first season of the Starz wrestling series Heels.
When he appeared on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions last year Punk was asked what it would take to get him back in a wrestling ring. The former WWE Champion said that between the two major companies AEW interests him more.
“What would it take? Oh gosh. Without wanting to insult anybody on either side of the fence, any WWE talent or AEW talent, it would take, above all, an interesting scenario,” he said. “A story that would be fun to tell and also just the stupidest amount of money. But, they can save themselves a lot of money if they present a fun storyline. Now, what that is, I don’t know. I’m a pretty picky guy, especially at this point. I think there are more interesting people on the AEW side of things for me to wrestle and that’s because I’ve never wrestled them before. Young Bucks, Kenny Omega.”
