WWE Star Praises CM Punk's New Attitude Since His Return: 'I'd Heard Horror Stories '

CM Punk has come under fire from some fans this week after winning the WWE Championship in Chicago. But is the heat unjustified?

CM Punk | WWE

CM Punk is WWE Champion again for the first time since 2013, and it sounds like he has a much different attitude this time around.

After disappearing from WWE programming back in April, Punk returned to the company in his hometown of Chicago on the July 6 episode of Raw as the surprise opponent for newly crowned WWE Champion Sami Zayn. Punk would go on to win the WWE Championship, marking his third time holding the prestigious title.

While the online response to Punk's WWE Title win has been decidedly mixed, and Sami Zayn has no good things to say, one SmackDown star has nothing but good things to say about his interactions with Punk during his latest run with the company.

Finn Balor says CM Punk is nothing like the horror stories he heard

Finn Balor and CM Punk | Netflix

WWE Superstar Finn Balor was the latest guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet. When asked about the proudest moments of his career, Balor revealed that one of them was when he wrestled CM Punk in front of his family in Belfast. Balor would go on to speak about Punk's character and the type of person he's been backstage since returning to WWE in 2023.

"The other one is very recent, and was in Belfast against Punk," Finn Balor said. "Just the reaction from the crowd that night, and had my family there in the front row, 25 people. There's so many ups and downs in this business, and sometimes you think like you've done it all, and it's never gonna get better. And then somehow did.

"Punk is someone I never really interacted with much. I'd actually only met him one time in my life at Samoa Joe's wedding. This is back in 2002, 2003, maybe. Then he had left WWE when I had signed at NXT, and so we never really had any interactions.

"And I'll go on the record as saying, like, I'd heard horror stories about Punk being this asshole, being difficult to deal with, being a big-headed guy that no one wants to work with, and when he came back to WWE, it could not have been the opposite. I met this guy who was humble, polite, wanted to work with people, and I'm pretty sure he went to the office, and he said he wanted this match. I don't think it came from the office; I think it came from Punk."

Facing CM Punk in Belfast meant everything to Finn Balor

Finn Balor faced CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the January 19 episode of WWE Raw in Balor's hometown of Belfast. It was a special moment for the SmackDown Superstar that he won't soon forget.

"And the way it unfolded, that match could have been anywhere," Balor continued. "Could have been in any random city in the United States, but it was in Belfast, my home country. My mom's birthday was the day before, she was there, and we done the match. The crowd reaction was unbelievable.

"We brought back the old music. It was so fun. I was like enjoying it. I wasn't thinking about the match, I was just like living it. It was easy to work with Phil. It was just like having fun. We're talking to each other out there. It was great."

Balor would go on to have a rematch with Punk a month later at the Elimination Chamber premium live event in Punk's hometown of Chicago. While Balor might not have won either match, this storyline was the catalyst to break Balor off from The Judgment Day and bring him back into the fold as a babyface.

With both Punk and Balor on the SmackDown brand moving forward, it will be interesting to see if these two men will revisit their rivalry in the months ahead.