Former WWE Writer Reveals Early Idea For CM Punk With Mickie James
Former WWE creative team writer Court Bauer was a guest on last week's episode of the Wrestling Inc. Podcast to discuss the upcoming MLW: One Shot event on Thursday night, October 5th in Orlando, Florida at GILT Nightclub. During the episode, WrestlingINC.com owner Raj Giri asked him to provide details about who was responsible for bringing CM Punk to WWE in 2005.
"John Laurinaitis signed him, he thought it was a good get," said Bauer. "He was assigned to OVW and there were a few different ideas to bring him in.
"One of those ideas was to bring him in as an 80s almost like a rockers – just like a 80s rocker gimmick and he was going to be paired with Mickie James at first. Almost like a real babyface high-five, big smile wear 80s rock gear stuff."
As Court pointed out, the gimmick obviously never made it to television. Court revealed he pushed for CM Punk to be brought to SmackDown but ultimately he went to ECW where he worked with Paul Heyman. Court believes it worked out for the best because Heyman didn't have much of a roster for the ECW brand and was instantly able to decode Punk, who was a priority before heading to RAW.
You can listen to the latest episode of the Wrestling Inc. Podcast featuring Court Bauer in the video embedded below, Bauer's comments about Punk start at the 26:20 mark. Tickets are available now for MLW: One Shot at mlw.eventbrite.com.
The Wrestling Inc. Podcast airs live post-WWE PPV Sundays immediately following the event with Matt Morgan, Glenn Rubenstein and Raj Giri. On Mondays immediately following WWE RAW with Matt Morgan, Glenn Rubenstein and Raj Giri and on Wednesdays at Noon ET with Raj Giri and Glenn Rubenstein. The archive of episodes is available by clicking here.