The former WWE superstar Maven has shared his story of why he resisted management’s wishes during CM Punk’s first ever WWE match.
The fact that CM Punk is among the most controversial superstars in the world of wrestling His WWE appearance in Survivor Series 2023 got the world of wrestling talking.
Punk entered the WWE development territory on September 5, 2005. His first television match for the company occurred just a few weeks earlier on the April 2005 episode of Sunday Night Heat.
Punk joined forces with Russell Simpson in his tryout match against Simon Dean (Mike Bucci) and Maven on this episode.
In his latest YouTube video titled “I was CM Punk’s first WWE opponent Maven recalled the first time he faced CM Punk in WWE. Maven recalls backstage information about the incident and revealed how Dean and Dean did not follow the script to defend Punk.
Maven disclosed Maven revealed that WWE management would like Punk to be the pin in the match, however, Dean (Nova) (Nova), the veteran wrestler in the fight, opted to pin Simpson instead.
As per Maven, Punk and Simpson were not aware of the guidelines from the management team, and they were doing what the wrestler with whom they were working wanted from them.
Believing that Punk already had backstage energy before the match in which he was a tryout, Maven explained:
“The only thing that management wanted was for us to score the pinfall victory, which is one-two-three, in the case of CM Punk. For whatever reason, I don’t have a clue. I’m talking about there was no sign-on for him at the time, but he was a hot commodity in the business.
There were feathers that the man had scattered. I’m not sure how. I do not know who’s.
“Nova (Simon Dean) was a different person. Nova was determined to give the man an opportunity and Nova decided to take the risk. In the beginning, as we were discussing the fight in the back, he said “Once we get here, I’ll take you down, Punk. You’ll roll down onto the floor. So, we’ll achieve the slam. One three, and two on Simpson.
“I do not know the reason Simon decided to shield Punk. It could have been to show a favor towards Stevie (Richards) as Stevie requested at the time. Or, he might have witnessed in Punk the things that the entire world would witness many years after.
“Simon has always proved to be a great indicator of talent. He could have spotted that Punk was, for some reason, a hot performer on stage and he did everything he could to keep him safe and knew that in the event of trouble, it would be on us. By us, I’m referring to Simon.”>
Maven has previously mentioned that he first came across Punk by way of Stevie Richards, who had personally had Maven to ensure that Punk was a winner in this fight.
Then, in explaining how they avoided being in the mud, Maven noted that Dean had to Punk slide down to the floor, so Punk wouldn’t be able to tag in to finish the fight Therefore, their choice to restrain Simpson could suggest that they were playing around to ensure they wouldn’t exceed the time they were given.
There’s been plenty of speculation regarding possible matchups that would be a dream for Punk after Punk’s WWE return.
