CM Punk has proved to be polarizing at times, but how ever you might feel about the wrestling sensation, Paul Wight knows where he stands on Punk's recent return to AEW.
"Star power," Wight told DAZN's Chris Hatch as part of an exclusive interview.
"A lot of people may not like Phil's attitude. I've known Phil for a long time, we've been friends for a long time. Phil is super competitive and super driven and he expects a lot from himself and he expects a lot from others around him."
And those qualities could make Punk misunderstood in Wight's estimation.
"I think a lot in the beginning years, I think there was just a communication breakdown that people might not understand how passionate Phil is," Wight continued. "And Phil is a guy that's going to let you know if he's upset about something and he's not going to really give a crap about hurting your feelings. He's not.
"He's never been that way with me. If I've screwed up and did something, he's let me know right away what was I thinking and it goes back and forth."
And that has actually allowed Wight to draw a point of relation to his friend ... to an extent.
"I kind of have the same attitude — not quite as intense as Phil's — but mine is very business-oriented, what's best for the program and what's best for the overall show," he continued. "A lot of times in a business, when you have this many incredible talents with this many egos, feathers are going to get rubbed the wrong way. There's going to be conflict."
Whether there's internal conflict or not, Wight doubles down on his bottom line about how he feels about Punk's return to AEW:
"The one thing that unequivocally nobody can deny is CM Punk brings star power."