Eric Bischoff Thinks CM Punk Should Consider Joining Impact Wrestling

Jeff Jarrett has returned as head of Impact Wrestling — formerly known as TNA — and the organization made a lot of news in the past week in parting with Matt and Jeff Hardy, Drew Galloway, and others. It’s presumable that they want to make a splash in acquiring big names, especially since whatever buzz the brand had in the last year or two was directly attributable to the Hardys.

On his podcast this week (audio above), former WCW head Eric Bischoff was asked around the 55-minute mark by host Nick Hausman if there were any big names that could move the needle for the promotion, and if off the top of his head CM Punk might be a good fit. Hausman transcribed the answer at WrestleZone:

"If I was CM Punk or CM Punk’s agent… let me put myself in CM Punk’s agent’s shoes because I don’t know CM Punk at all. Never met him. Never shared one syllable of conversation with him. If I was CM Punk’s agent I would be on the phone with him and I would say something like, “Hey Punk, look, I know you had a bad experience in WWE. I know you aren’t necessarily excited about the wrestling industry in general. You may or may not want to continue to immerse yourself in the world of MMA but as your business manager, Mr. Punk, I am just looking at the financial opportunity as it exists today and there may be a way for you to leverage a great opportunity in Impact Wrestling. Why don’t we at least explore that?” That’s me in my business manager hat. Whether or not Punk would entertain that or not? I guess that depends on where his head is at at any given moment."

Nevertheless, Pro Wrestling Sheet founder Ryan Satin, who was also on the podcast, quickly put a damper in that discussion, opining that based on what he knows about CM Punk it would never happen in a million years. However, if Impact were somehow able to lure Punk to return, it would establish immediate relevance.

If you’ll indulge me for a bit, this is probably delusional but I’ve had the admittedly delusional dream for the past few months that CM Punk will return to WWE next Monday in Chicago. In my fantasy booking, Raw would start with a long-ass promo from Triple H, the CM PUNK chants would rain down from the rafters, Hunter would be like, “You losers, you need to get it through your small minds that he will NEVER come back here as long as my family is in charge.” Then the Cult of Personality music would hit, and it would be Stephanie McMahon to reiterate her husband’s insults. And THEN CM Punk would emerge from the crowd, beat up Triple H, and pandemonium would ensue. A boy can dream.