CM Punk breaks character; calls top WWE RAW star "best wrestler in the world" ahead of SummerSlam

CM Punk broke character ahead of his match against Gunther at WWE SummerSlam. The Second City Saint praised a top RAW star, calling him the "best wrestler in the world."

After beating Bron Breakker in the final bout of a daunting Gauntlet Match a few weeks ago on RAW, Punk became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Things have been tense between the challenger and the champion, but there has only been a war of words. The Ring General has even left someone like The Voice of the Voiceless speechless, putting doubts into his mind.

Speaking on the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Punk broke character by giving Gunther his flowers. He had nothing but praise for his SummerSlam opponent, going as far as calling the heel the "best wrestler in the world," a moniker often associated with The Straight Edge Superstar.

"Gunther's a guy that I feel I'm super excited to get in the ring with. He's on fire, like this dude is the best wrestler in the world. He's got the gold to prove it, too. But like, just everything about him is a throwback. I think he's refreshing. I think he's real... He had me speechless one Monday, and I'm almost speechless now trying to explain how excited I am to get in there with him. He's a guy who represents the business to me. He's a guy who represents the current business," Punk said. [From 19:45 to 20:30]

Check out the video below:

The CM Punk vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship on Night 1 of SummerSlam will be the first-ever televised singles match between the two superstars.

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CM Punk heaps more praise for Gunther ahead of SummerSlam

In addition to calling Gunther the "best wrestler in the world" today, CM Punk praised The Ring General's character and in-ring persona. Punk believes that Gunther has a timeless gimmick that could work in any era. In the same interview, CM Punk said:

"You could take him and you could drop him into a territory in the 60s and he would thrive. You could put him in Madison Square Garden in the '70s across from Bruno (Sammartino) or whatever, and he would thrive. So, he transcends decades to me, so he's one of the best right now," Punk said. [From 20:32 to 20:47]

There's certainly an argument that Gunther is indeed the "best wrestler in the world" today. He could get a good match out of anyone, with the latest example of this being Goldberg's retirement match.

The bout lasted for nearly 15 minutes and might go down in history as one of the best matches of the WWE Hall of Famer's career.

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