Renee Paquette On Why She Believes CM Punk Chose AEW Over WWE

On today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman sat down with Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate to discuss their new Sirius XM Fight Nation show, Throwing Down. They also discussed other topics in the pro wrestling world, including CM Punk. Punk had stated in the past that WWE was never an option for him for his comeback and Hausman asked Paquette if she was surprised Punk wound up in AEW over WWE.

"I think the thing with WWE that everyone says is, never say never," Paquette noted. "So if Punk were to have ended up back in WWE, I don't think I would have been so floored by it because I think no matter what, everyone's just kind of waiting. 'When's he gonna put the boots back on? When are we gonna get CM Punk back in the ring?' And honestly, as more time was passing, I was like, sh*t, are we ever gonna see this? Is it never gonna happen?

"So I think for him to be able to sit back, and I know he took the time over the pandemic and watching these no crowd shows and what was going on with AEW, to now fans are back, and he came back at obviously the perfect time in Chicago from past pay-per-view to showing up on on Rampage. I'm not surprised that it was AEW that he decided to go to. I think the thing for him, whether it's talking money, talking dates, whatever it comes down to, it's the storylines and the people that he wants to work with.

"I don't think there was anything fresh and new in WWE that he really wanted to do. I don't think there was anyone there that he wanted to work that he hasn't already worked, storylines he's not already been able to do. Whether it was at AEW, or Ring of Honor or what have you, to now looking at things being busted wide open at AEW and having Adam Cole there now. You've got Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, for him to be able to tag with with Bryan Danielson, that was one thing that he mentioned to me on my podcast. I think it's just those other opportunities and different avenues that he can kind of take his career now. I think that's what really spoke to him more so than somebody driving a truck of cash up to his house, which hopefully he got that too."

Paquette and Tate also explained how they ended up hosting a podcast and a show on SiriusXM together. Noting how significant it was to have them host a show in the MMA and pro wrestling world.

"I don't know if it was some kind of brainchild idea that came together. The way that I kind of see it, and Miesha, you can chime in here, but I had Miesha on my podcast. She jumped on Oral Sessions," Paquette stated. "We got to hang out, shoot the sh*t. It was great, and then I was able to jump on her show as well. And I don't know, maybe just some chemistry there. The idea of having me come from the broadcast world. Her obviously being such a legend in UFC and in the MMA world, if that was the the idea to just kind of mash us together and see what happens."

"I have to put full and total blame on Marissa Rives. She is just a mastermind," Tate said. "She has put great personalities together before, and I come from hosting the Wednesday show with Ryan McKinnell. And before that it was Sean O'Connell, so I actually just celebrated four years with SiriusXM. When I think she had heard Renee and I going back and forth and just having these different conversations, she just had this vision for this first female hosted radio show ever in Sirius XM history.

"We're talking about sports, and we're two women who loves sports, but that's never been done before. So it's a little uncharted territory, but I think she just knew that our personalities would mesh, and I think after our first show, that's definitely how I felt anyways, a lot of fun. I thought we were definitely able to sling it a little back and forth, and have fun with it, and laugh at each other and laugh at our mistakes. And it's a great pairing that I think has a lot of room to grow still too."

"It's a lot of fun coming off of that first episode," Paquette added. "I kind of felt like I was walking into it like, I'm not sure what to expect. I'm not even sure how to prepare for this. I've never really done radio before. I host a podcast, but I was like, wait, how's this work? What's gonna happen? So it was really cool to get that first episode under our belts.

"The chemistry is already there. I can't even imagine in a couple months where we're going to be and the conversations we're gonna be able to have. It's really cool for Sirius to give us this platform and really trust us to be the two women that can sort of forge this path and navigate these waters as the two first woman to host an MMA / pro wrestling podcast."

Throwing Down with Renee and Miesha airs every Monday from 2:00 – 5:00 pm ET on SiriusXM Fight Nation, channel 156 on SiriusXM radios and the SXM App. Renee is also a contributor on SiriusXM Fight Nation's popular wrestling show, Busted Open.

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