On a recent edition of Cornette Drive-Thru, Jim Cornette discussed reports that Vince McMahon reportedly has said that he cannot work with CM Punk and that Punk devalued himself after failing to pop ratings for WWE Backstage. Cornette agreed that Punk blew his return to wrestling on WWE Backstage, and more. Highlights are below.

On being disappointed that Punk’s reps reached out to WWE about a comeback: “I don’t know what his relationship is with Vince but it hurt me to hear that his representatives reached out [to WWE], because I was like, the modern day Jack Brisco, this is the one guy that’s going to walk away and say fuck you and mean it, right? Whether he comes back to wrestling, at least he would not come back to the WWF, WWE, and I was pulling for him to do that because somebody needs to, so I hate to think that he’s the one who asked them if he could come back and we haven’t heard him say that that’s the case to verify that.”

On returning to wrestling on WWE Backstage being a major mistake: “But to come back to television, the level of star he was and the people who chanted for awhile, ‘We want Punk,’ ‘CM Punk,’ or whatever, and still that, if you did something on a national show with a big splash, he would mean something and he could talk his ass off, I don’t know what his work is like these days, he’s been out of the ring for five years or whatever, but he’s a personality. But to come back on a show about a show, WWE Backstage, that’s like, you’re not a star on Walking Dead, you’re a guest on Talking Dead, fuck that. For him to have come back just to do a TV show about a TV show, and then not even be the host or be a regular or be the star of it, just hop in every now and then, it’s like he suddenly became, if it was a movie, he wouldn’t be the star, he would be the best friend, he’s a supporting actor now.”

“That was a major mistake, to come back to anything wrestling related, I’m not saying he couldn’t do a bit part in a movie or TV show or whatever, but in the wrestling genre, if he wasn’t going to come back and make a splash at a major fucking PPV or a big national television show, on the show, in an angle, whether it be AEW or WWE or whatever, just to pop up and say hello on WWE Backstage, that was not the greatest thing to do.”

On if he remembers Vince ever refusing to work with any other talent: “Well, Savage. He’s been quoted as saying I will not do business with that man. I’ve never brought his name up, I was there when Savage was still there before he left, and after he left, I saw how pissed Vince was and I was never going to be the one to say, ‘Hey, why don’t we see what Savage is doing?’ Fuck that.”

On if he would have any value for AEW: “He would have value for AEW, if they had CM Punk on their television show, that would be a boon to them because he’s a major name and he’s a fish that got away.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Cornette Drive-Thru with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.