Last week, NXT announcer Booker T made the surprising claim that he almost got into an altercation with CM Punk during the WWE NXT taping on March 12th, which Punk was spotted visiting by fans. The statement was alarming considering Punk’s history of backstage incidents during his two-year stint at AEW on top of this appearing to be his first incident of any kind since returning to WWE last November.
However, subsequent reports all but debunked Booker’s claim, with NXT sources stating that no one backstage was aware of such a confrontation on top of one talent denying the incident took place outright. Additionally, comments made by the Reality of Wrestling YouTube channel, seemingly from Booker himself, on a now-private clip of the claim being made hinted that Booker was simply messing around.
Now, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer himself has revealed the truth behind the situation. Speaking on the latest edition of his podcast, Booker clarified that he was not being serious, later describing the story as “clickbait”, and that he was simply trying to entertain the listeners.
“Look, me and CM Punk, we won’t be having a fight, okay? I wanna let everybody know out there: I have no ill will towards CM Punk,” Booker stated in response to a fan question about his claims. “Contrary to popular belief, I consider CM Punk a friend so when I’m saying something about CM Punk guys, do not take it literally like the internet and these sites do. Don’t take it serious. Don’t jump into that mud.
“If you hear me say anything here on the Hall of Fame, this show, it’s show related,” he continued. “I’m trying to entertain my fans. I’m trying to entertain the fans that are watching, just trying to give you guys a moment when you ain’t gotta think about that kind of stuff. So if you hear me say something about CM Punk, Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Brad [Gilmour, his co-host], don’t jump into the internet mess. So let’s just get that out there right now because that 40-second story that people wrote? It was clickbait, that’s what it was more than anything. Did I put it out there? Did I say it as far as I had a beef, I was gonna run up? Yeah, I said it but I’m entertaining, guys. Entertaining.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling and credit Hall of Fame With Booker T & Brad Gilmour.