After being fired by AEW, CM Punk returned to WWE last November at the Survivor Series: WarGames PLE. However, before stepping into the ring at this January's Royal Rumble, the Best in the World clashed with Dominik Mysterio at a few untelevised WWE Live events.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, The Judgement Day member reflected on being Punk's first WWE opponent since he left WWE in 2014 and admitted it meant a lot to him.
"Yeah, kind of crazy. I didn’t expect it to be me, just because we have so much great talent right now, especially the roster we have today, RAW and SmackDown," the son of WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio admitted. "But the fact that they trusted me to go in there with him on his first match back, like you said after 10 years, I’m glad I was able to give him his first punch."
"It was special because I knew the company trusted me with things like that. I wasn’t aware of it until I kind of got pulled aside and was like, 'Hey, how do you feel about working CM Punk for the live events tour?'" Mysterio added. "I was like, 'Bring it on, let’s go.' I was excited. I was ready for it because I knew it was another opportunity and another challenge for me, so I was excited to cross another one off the list."
That's far from the only big name "Dirty" Dom has clashed with in WWE, of course, and he'd go on to also reflect on the experience of sharing the ring with the "GOAT" John Cena.
"I've actually wrestled John in a dark match for SmackDown. But I would love to get my hands on Cena again. Yeah, I have some history there that I'd like to touch back with," he said before reflecting on what it was like to also team up with the Leader of the Cenation:
"I'm trying to find the right word for it. It was a surreal moment, because I grew up watching him, had his album, signed and everything. Again, big Cena guy too growing up. Then, not only that but when he came back the first time, when did the summer of Cena against Roman, I was along for the ride on that one. All the live events. I was tagging with my deadbeat and Cena against Roman and The Usos. It was me, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, against Roman and The Usos."
"So him being okay with me [being in the match], I shouldn't have been in that [or] in any of those matches leading into SummerSlam. In no way, shape or form should I have been in that ring with any of those guys, maybe my dad. But him being able to do that for me and just giving me his advice, going through 30 plus days of every week just something different, and then flipping it around to where he's still in the same spot but now I'm the bad guy, and we got to work that one time. So I would definitely love to get back in the ring with him and mix it up."
You can watch the full interview with Mysterio below.