CM Punk Says Rey Mysterio Feud Leveled Up His WWE Career

CM Punk faced a ton of legends during his first run in WWE. Some fans may forget everything that he has been able to accomplish already, meaning that the Second City Savior already had a WWE Hall of Fame worthy career before his comeback. Looking back, CM Punk can speak about all those situations candidly.

Several weeks have passed since CM Punk made his return to WWE, ending a near-decade absence from the company since his departure in 2014. Currently a member of the Monday Night Raw roster, Punk is slated to wrestle Dominik Mysterio in upcoming WWE holiday house shows at Madison Square Garden and The Kia Forum.

During a charity stream on Instagram by Elite Comics11, CM Punk made a guest appearance. Asked to recall a pivotal moment in his wrestling career, Punk reminisced about a three-way match with Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero for IWA Mid-South in 2002. He acknowledged that this match played a significant role in putting him on the map and revealed that it made him realize he wasn’t as skilled as he believed at the time.

“Oh God, a match? A match where I kind of figured things out? I really don’t know. I’d really have to think about it and maybe working with Rey Mysterio and Eddie (Guerrero) for the first time. We famously did a three-way in like a — I don’t know. It was like a school gymnasium somewhere in Indianapolis or it was somewhere in Indiana or something like that for IWA (Mid-South). It was when Eddie was in between jobs. Rey, WCW had just kind of folded. Rey was one of the guys that was not signing with WWE right away and that one kind of put me on the map, but it also gave a lot of stuff that — I knew I wasn’t as good as I thought I was at that moment, you know? Working with pros like Rey and Eddie and so, it just kind of set me down the path of there’s a whole new bar for me after working with these guys and I have to try to reach to get to it, you know?

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And then working with Rey when I got called up to the main roster, the Straight Edge Society stuff especially, you can compare and contrast CM Punks from those two different time periods and getting to work with Rey so frequently really felt like a level up, because that was like my litmus test. I could use Rey as a comparison. Like okay, I was here when I worked Rey last time.“

CM Punk obviously had an unforgettable experience while working with Rey Mysterio on WWE’s main roster, considering it a significant step forward and a litmus test for his abilities. Reflecting on his feud with John Cena, Punk expressed how it felt like a “night off” working with Cena and emphasized the trust placed in him to be a part of such a crucial matchup. That is also a huge complement for a pro wrestler.

CM Punk’s new WWE contract means that he will get to face many more opponents down the line, some of them may be fresh matchups as well. It might be hard to replicate working with John Cena, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, but CM Punk has a ton of experiences that he can also pass onto a new generation.

For more on this story, especially involving CM Punk, and many more stories from all over the pro wrestling world, please keep checking back with us here at Ringside News.

What’s your favorite period of CM Punk’s career? Let us know what you think in the comments section!