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AEW star CM Punk and former Eric Bischoff were involved in a Twitter altercation this past week when they shared different opinions over the existence of "casual wrestling fans."
For those unaware, in a media scrum last year, Punk said that he doesn't believe there are casual fans anymore. Bischoff emphatically responded on his recent podcast, saying The Second City Saint doesn't know enough about the television business to claim such things.
From there, Punk tweeted that veteran wrestling personalities like Bischoff should just stick to podcasts and even called them "carny dips**ts." The former WCW President clapped back by mocking the former's UFC career.
With the back-and-forth exchange on Twitter, one might wonder, did CM Punk and Eric Bischoff fight or even share a ring before?
The answer is no, their paths haven't crossed in a squared circle. In WWE, Punk made his televised debut in ECW on August 1, 2006, and stayed there until 2008, when he was drafted to RAW. Around 2006, Bischoff was just making sporadic appearances where he was involved in the DX vs. Rated-RKO feud. He also promoted his book, Controversy Creates Cash, on September 25 that year.
Bischoff's last WWE appearance in the 2000s was on December 10, 2007, when he was confronted by Chris Jericho, whom he fired on August 22, 2005, when he was still the RAW General Manager. That year, Punk retained his ECW Championship against The Miz and John Morrison at Survivor Series 2007.
In AEW, the former WCW President appeared twice in 2020, where he moderated the Jericho-Orange Cassidy debate and the Jericho-MJF "town hall meeting." Last year, he hosted a party for The Inner Circle. On the other hand, Punk made his All Elite debut on August 20, 2021, on Rampage: The First Dance.
The two have missed meeting each other in a squared circle, especially in the same year. It will be interesting to see if the two will eventually face off in the future.
Eric Bischoff believes CM Punk in AEW is a failure
Since Bischoff and Punk started their online feud, the wrestling world has been divided on who to support. Adding more fuel to the fire, Eric Bischoff proclaimed during his 83 Weeks podcast that CM Punk is a "financial flop" and a "horrible return on investment."
"I pointed out that this was a guy who came out and said that for a guy who thinks he was a bigger deal than Scott Hall and Kevin Nash Coming to WCW, so far he's fallen flat on his face... In terms of a return on investment, this guy has to be the biggest financial flop in the history of wrestling... We weren’t talking about the broader spectrum of revenue opportunities. In terms of television, he’s been a horrible return on investment."
It looks like Bischoff got the last laugh on CM Punk for now, as the latter hasn't been entertaining the feud. With the WCW boss's recent remarks, it will be interesting to see if The Straight Edge Superstar will take time to clap back. It remains to be seen if Punk and Bischoff will ever meet in a squared circle for a promo or a match.
