Michelle Beadle dismisses flirting with CM Punk and talks about her run-in with AJ Lee

ESPN Sportscaster Michelle Beadle

CM Punk’s former good friend, Michelle Beadle, has addressed the incident involving her with CM Punk and AJ Lee.

The ESPN Sportsnation host, who was on Jim Ross’s The Ross Report podcast show this week, discussed her confrontation with CM punk and his fiancee, AJ Lee which took place at last year's WWE Tribute To The Troops.

Beadle has been a long time wrestling fan and was a close friend of Punk. At the Tribute To The Troops show, she seemingly made some derogatory remarks to the WWE superstar which wasn’t kindly received by AJ Lee. The incident garnered widespread buzz on the internet as AJ Lee reportedly squared up to her moments later.

Later, CM Punk revealed that she had called him a ‘f***face.’

Talking to Ross, Beadle said, "Look, first of all, when I'm flirting people will know I'm flirting."

"I've also known Phil for a few years at this point and I had, at that time, considered him a friend. We texted on a regular basis, we've had dinner numerous times. You know, It's just one of those things where he's not my friend, whatever. It was what it was. I thought it was a friendship, I guess I was wrong."

Beadle then explained the details of the incident which was the exactly opposite to what Punk had initially said.

"I show up at Tribute to the Troops,” she said. “I see him in the hallway, I say 'what up, f--kface', which is my very loving way of referring to my friends. I don't call my friends... I just... I'm an idiot. I call them all kinds of names, that's how you know I like you. He was alone in a hallway, he didn't really say anything. I was with P.R. from WWE and my assistant and we walked by. The next thing I know, she's in my face yelling at me and I honestly, I swear to you, thought it was a joke."

AJ Lee confronted Beadle who thought that it was a joke. She couldn’t believe what was happening and also pointed out that Punk turned his back during the incident. WWE public relations apologised to her for the couple’s actions, but Beadle said it wasn't their problem. She thought the situation would be put to rest, until she saw it as a big story on wrestling sites and sports blogs. She decided to send out a three-part tweet on Twitter, explaining her side of the story.

To this day, Beadle and Punk, who were apparently very good friends, have not spoken since.

"Phil and I stopped being friends that day and I wish him the best of luck and that's it," said Beadle. "It's a bummer because I always respected him. I thought he was one of those cool guys that kind of didn't fall into a certain role and kind of did what he wanted, but to watch all that happen and to have somebody tattle on me and have their girlfriend get in my face is a little pathetic. But it's okay, I've moved on."

Jim Ross asked Beadle to share her thoughts on Punk leaving the WWE to which Beadle said, "He loves wrestling."

"As a kid he loved it, it was his passion. But I also think there are certain ways of a system that he doesn't really get down with all that much. He's got a beautiful place in Chicago, has a great life, great friends…was I shocked that he walked? Not really. Am I shocked he's still gone? Yes. I think I thought, as a lot of fans have, 'Oh, maybe he'll show up at WrestleMania, oh, maybe he'll show up at this.' Look, we might not be friends anymore, but I also, as a fan of wrestling, I do miss him. I miss him as a wrestler, I think there's really, with the exception of Cena, but he's a different guy altogether, there's really no one that can get on a microphone and do what he does," she concluded.