CM Punk Details The Impact Of This WWE Hall Of Famer & Producer's Absence

Now nearly two years into his return to WWE, CM Punk seems to be having a good time, with no signs of the drama he had in AEW or during his first WWE stint, give or take a controversial appearance in Saudi Arabia. A big reason for that may be the fact that this incarnation of WWE feels different than the one Punk first worked for, even though many of the same people do remain in positions of power.

In fact, Punk revealed in an appearance on "My Mom's Basement with Robbie Fox" that one of those long-time WWE names is someone he's missing while they recover from injury. And it's a WWE Hall of Famer and producer that may raise some eyebrows towards Punk, given this figure has been named in the amended Janel Grant lawsuit.

"Michael Hayes just went down, got a knee surgery," Punk said. "So you know, Freebird's gone for a while. And I really do feel the impact of him not being around. Now, you can text him. But he's at home. And him not being there, his presence is missed."

Keeping things positive, Punk then used Hayes' absence to segue into a hypothetical with Triple H, regarding why this WWE was better than its previous incarnations.

"Triple H obviously is sitting in the chair and he's the boss," Punk said. "But one of the aspects that I really love about this brand new WWE that I've come back to is...if he's got a daddy/daughter dance, he's not at TV. And I find that to be so amazing and brilliant, like 'Yeah. Go hang out with your kid. Go have those moments. We'll be fine. We'll get through.' But you definitely feel it, and there's so many people that cast a large shadow that you definitely feel their absence when they're not on the show."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "My Mom's Basement with Robbie Fox" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription