Despite a falling out in their real-life friendship, Corey Graves would welcome CM Punk back to WWE.
Graves was asked about a potential Punk-WWE reunion while appearing as a guest on The Kurt Angle Show. Graves said that, if it was right for business, he would welcome Punk back to WWE. Graves said he's too old to hold grudges and he feels like whatever happened between him and Punk is water under the bridge.
Graves said:
I’m amazed it took this long, it’s been a few months for someone to actually throw this question my way, but usually I'm doing the hosting so I'm asking everybody else. So this is a fun turn of events. Listen, Punk was always great to me when I was coming up. We were really, really, really close. Remember I told the story at the beginning of the show about how I missed my son being born? Punk was in Pittsburgh at the time and was actually the first guy who held my son after he was born. Like, we were tight.
Fast forward a few years, I don’t really know what happened. We sort of fell out for one reason or another. I said some disparaging things in a very public, unprofessional manner. We haven’t spoken since prior to then. But at the end of the day, rather than sitting here and wasting everybody’s time, I’m a professional. I’m too old to hold grudges. I feel like whatever’s happened is water under the bridge. I got a whole different life. I’m in a very different place in my life than I was back when all that stuff went down. If it’s right for business, who am I to say no? I’m a pro at the end of the day. I would happily do whatever is needed. I would shake the man’s hand and move on and see what life holds.
The disparaging comments that Graves made about Punk happened after Punk faced Mike Jackson at UFC 225 in 2018. In a series of tweets, Graves accused Punk of abandoning everyone who had stood by his side.
Punk's AEW contract was terminated with cause this September following a backstage incident with Jack Perry that took place at All In.
Dave Meltzer reported last month that WWE has decided against bringing Punk back to the company.
Graves is part of the current SmackDown commentary team with Michael Cole and Kevin Patrick.
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