Former Champ Wants No WWE Association, Agrees TV Deal: Report

CM Punk – real name Phillip Jack Brooks – who left World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under unceremonious circumstances could be associated with the promotion albeit indirectly. The former WWE champion is said to be joining WWE’s Backstage studio show which will air on FS1 with the premiere set for Nov. 5.

According to Fight Oracle, via Wrestling Inc., the deal between Fox Network and Punk is a “done deal”. He is expected to have signed a deal to join the show’s hosts Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T in a prominent role while also signing to be a commentator on FS1 for their WWE programming.

WWE’s executive vice-president of talent and live events Triple H with whom Punk had a falling out recently revealed that he is open to the former pro-wrestler making a comeback but admitted that Fox is leading the charge as Backstage is a Fox property and not owned by WWE. They are said to be interviewing a number of candidates including Punk, who confirmed the same.

Punk, however, made it clear he would not have accepted the offer if it came from the WWE and revealed that he came to the negotiating table only because he was dealing directly with Fox Network. He also praised Young, who is currently a commentator on Monday Night RAW but is expected to make the switch to FS1’s Backstage studio show once SmackDown Live makes its debut on the Network on Oct. 4.

"My agents just called me and FOX is throwing everything at this because they spent a lot of money on this and they're all in to make it work. Originally I thought it was a WWE thing, so I was just like, 'meh, no.' But then they said, 'this is FOX’,” Punk said, as quoted on Wrestling Inc.

"I'm not dealing with anybody in WWE. They explained to me what it was and I love Renee Young. Renee Young is a great person... she's Canadian, so obviously she's super over-the-top nice and friendly. I prefaced it with, 'Guys, I'm not going to come in and dump all over stuff just to dump on it. That's old Phil. But if it's bad, I'm not going to be able to pretend it's anything but bad’,” he added.

"So they want to present it like it's a real sport and just have a show that recaps stuff, just like they do with the NFL, just like the NHL Network would do with hockey games and stuff like that. That's where we are with that."