In a recent podcast appearance, Chavo Guerrero discussed Vince McMahon’s preference for wrestlers with an assertive and confrontational attitude backstage.
Drawing parallels to past instances, such as Shawn Michaels, who seemingly gained favor for his assertiveness, Chavo noted that McMahon encouraged some champions to be more aggressive and confrontational, even if it didn’t align with their personalities.
Chavo also shared his positive experiences working with CM Punk, acknowledging Punk’s reputation for being misunderstood and occasionally difficult. Despite this, Chavo highlighted their smooth collaboration and suggested that Punk might be on his best behavior in WWE at the moment.
Here’s what Chavo said on the Rumor & Innuendo podcast:
“It’s a business but also Vince, and I don’t know how involved he is anymore, but he was, when I was there, he was always the most involved person. I can’t see him not being involved and not still having his fingers in everything. But he really does like someone kind of being an a-hole back there.
If you look at old Shawn Michaels stuff, it was almost like he was given the keys to the kingdom because of his attitude. His work, of course, don’t get me wrong, but his attitude as well went along with it.
And, you know, I’ve talked to many different champions, I won’t name them, but they’re like, ‘Hey, Vince used to tell me, why are you being so nice? I’m giving you the okay to be a jerk and be a total a-hole to people’. And those guys were like, ‘That’s not who I am. I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to be an a-hole just to be an a-hole.’ So, Punk can be an a-hole to me.
Now, I get along with him awesome — Phil’s great. I’ve never had an issue with him. I worked with him for three straight months doing the ECW stuff longer, probably half a year. And we never once had one issue in the ring. Never once. Not even like a riff. We always got along so well.
So, he’s a pretty misunderstood guy. But you know, Punk can be Punk. It can be difficult. So, I think that only lasts so long in WWE when, you know, I think he’s probably on his best behavior right now.”
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