How did Paul Heyman's fallout with Vince McMahon lead to issues for CM Punk? Exploring his comments
He may be in the WWE Hall of Fame now, but Paul Heyman wasn't always chummy with WWE. This was especially true when it came to his relationship with former Chairman, Vince McMahon. Back in 2006, Heyman had a huge fallout with Mr. McMahon, that ultimately led to him quietly leaving the company. But, his departure did not affect just him, it had an effect on everyone he was close to in the company, including CM Punk.
The Voice of the Voiceless is one of the biggest names in pro wrestling now. This isn't much of a surprise, especially considering he was one of the many "Paul Heyman Guys". But, that was the very thing that was used to hold him down in WWE, as The Wiseman explained in a recent interview with SHAK Wrestling when asked about Vince McMahon's initial perception of Punk and when it started to change.
Nowadays, it's a privilege to be considered a "Paul Heyman Guy," but as Heyman himself explained, back when he first fell out with Vince McMahon and WWE management, the term was used to hold stars back. This was especially true for CM Punk, who as Heyman described, had to "battle against the perception" that that was all he was:
"CM Punk battled against the perception that all he was was a "Paul Heyman Guy" and he got unfortunately dragged down by that tag by becoming collateral damage from the fallout between my fallout with management. And because of my fallout with management, he got tagged. Literally, that's how he was described, that's what they called him, "Oh yeah. Paul Heyman Guy". So all of a sudden he fell victim to being described as if I had made him a star by using some of the smoke and mirrors that we used to use in ECW for some people that weren't up to the level of being national stars," said Paul Heyman [18:54-19:53]
Looking back, it's safe to say, that Punk has outgrown that label. He is a superstar in his own right, and by far one of the greatest stars Heyman has ever represented.
Paul Heyman recently introduced CM Punk as the fifth member of the OG Bloodline
Although CM Punk has outgrown the "Paul Heyman Guy" label, he is still indebted to the Hall of Famer. He attributes much of his success in the industry to Heyman and cares for him deeply. So, when The Wiseman called upon him this week on SmackDown, he answered.
For weeks on end now, the OG Bloodline had been looking for a fifth member for their WarGames match. And, up until last week, it looked like they would have to go into it with just the four of them, the four being Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Jimmy Uso. But, all that changed as Heyman made his emphatic return after five months and introduced Punk as the fifth member.
With Punk by their side, the odds are heavily in favor of the OG Bloodline heading into Survivor Series; and they have The Wiseman to thank for that.