Report: Scepticism & Frustration Within WWE Over Booker T's Claim Of Confrontation With CM Punk

A claim from Booker T that he 'almost had a little run-in' with CM Punk at the March 12 taping of WWE NXT has been met with scepticism within the brand, according to Fightful Select. 

Booker T suddenly claimed on his Hall of Fame podcast this week that he and Punk 'almost got into it' at the Tuesday night taping. 

"I did. I saw Punk. We'll talk about that off the air [laughs]. I almost had a little run-in with CM Punk. The internet might want to pick that up. Me and CM Punk almost got into it at NXT. We'll talk about it later. I don't want to put it out there because they're going to pick it up and run with it. I'll talk to you off the air," Booker T said. 

Fightful Select, in addition to the scepticism, have noted that no sources were aware of a confrontation before Booker's comments on his podcast. Security were also not informed of an incident and there was no talk backstage about a confrontation taking place. One WWE talent outright denied that an incident between Booker T and CM Punk occurred, pointing out Booker's previous false claims about heat between himself and Corey Graves. Another source of Fightful's, meanwhile, stated Punk had not had any issues since his return to WWE in November 2023 and they expressed surprise about Booker T making such a claim without providing further context. 

Booker's claim has only fuelled frustration within WWE, particularly because of Punk's history of backstage altercations. Punk infamously had a backstage fight with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks at All Out 2022 before another altercation at All In 2023, this time with Jack Perry, that led to Punk's firing from All Elite Wrestling. 

Punk has been "very helpful" when he's been backstage at NXT, Fightful noted. The former WWE Champion was reported to have been in good spirits at NXT on March 12 and largely kept to himself beyond speaking to Shawn Michaels, Matt Bloom, and a few NXT talents.