"I didn't respect him as a person" - Ex-WWE champion makes surprising confession about CM Punk
Former WWE Tag Team Champion Rene Dupree revealed he hated tapping out to CM Punk.
Dupree joined the Stamford-based company in 2002. He spent about five years as an active competitor in WWE before requesting his release and leaving in July 2007. During his stint in the company, the 39-year-old shared the ring with CM Punk three times. Their last match came in October 2006 and ended in Punk's victory via submission.
Speaking on his Cafe de Rene podcast, Dupree confessed that he hated tapping out to Punk and putting him over because he did not respect him.
"[Which wrestler did you hate having to take a submission move from?] CM Punk just because I didn't respect him as a person. I just didn't like him. I didn't like being put in the Anaconda Vise and having to tap out to him. That was the only guy I had a problem putting over and I put over everybody. Yeah, I just didn't understand why they wanna go with this guy. But, their business. And shortly after, I walked out," he said. [43:48 - 44:20]
Backstage report on what CM Punk is saying about potential return to the Stamford-based company. Check it out here.
Will CM Punk return to WWE?
CM Punk was released from the Stamford-based company in 2014. Although he retired from professional wrestling after his departure, The Best in the World returned to join AEW in 2021. However, he was fired from Tony Khan's promotion earlier this year after getting involved in a backstage altercation at All In London.
Since his firing from AEW, rumors have suggested Punk could return to WWE. During an episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T pointed out that Punk's return is not ruled out.
"The thing is also, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, I'm not gonna put it past WWE hiring him back. I don't know. I can't say. But I do know that just about everybody that's left WWE has come back no matter what problems they've had. Even, you know, The Ultimate Warrior, which I don't think anybody thought The Ultimate Warrior would come back because he was more hated than Ahmed Johnson [laughs]," he said.
Randy Orton recently "liked" an interesting tweet about CM Punk's return rumors. Check out the details here.
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