Ryan Satin Recalls His On-Set WWE Backstage Experience From CM Punk's Debut
Last week on WWE Backstage CM Punk made his debut and teased regular appearances starting with the following week. Ryan Satin also works for Backstage as a correspondent and he discussed when he found out Punk was debuting when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"We had a production meeting and there was no Punk talk and nothing in the rundown. There was no word from anyone and no inkling whatsoever. Then I did my segment and when I was done, somebody came up to me and rushed me out into the control room," recalled Satin.
Satin thought the worst and figured he'd said something wrong on the air. But when he got to the control room he was then asked to go to the green room, being assured nothing was wrong the whole time.
"Mick Foley was in there and eating a sandwich," Satin said of the green room. "I was trying to post stories from my phone and right when I get the second one up, I hear [Punk's music] and my jaw dropped. I see him walk out and I'm like, 'Oh my God. Are you kidding me?'
"I turn around and ask Mick if he had any idea Punk was there. He goes, 'No, that's crazy' and goes back to eating his sandwich. Then I asked production and they had no idea. I was like, 'What the hell? That's crazy.' I had no idea and was just as surprised as anyone."
Satin added that he didn't interact with Punk after the show as he was busy with Samoa Joe and Renee Young. He was then asked what he thought Punk's role would be on the show.
"From how it sounds to me, he's gonna be an analyst like Booker T, Paige and Christian have been in the past. He's gonna be giving his takes on the various things in the world of the WWE," said Satin.
Everyone is wondering if this role for Punk will somehow lead to him returning to the ring. Satin was asked where he thinks this role with Backstage will lead to for Punk.
"I don't know the answer but if you asked anyone who might know the answer, I'm sure they'd say he's just doing the analyst thing. He doesn't wanna come back to wrestling and sees this as a bridge to something he can bring to FOX," said Satin.
He then noted Punk's behind the scenes video and how he compared his role to Troy Aikman's role with the NFL on FOX or Alex Rodriguez on MLB. Satin also contrasted Punk's WWE run to Booker T's and Christian's and how he was "a thing" and brought people back to wrestling.
"With Punk, he was a phenomenon with wrestling fans because he stood for a certain thing?FOX has a long, five-year deal with WWE so if he can be their top wrestling analyst, then I think he wants to do that," stated Satin.
"If you asked someone a year ago if they thought Punk would do this, the answer would have been no. The answer in a year from now could be different. It's so hard to say.
"Would I like to see him wrestle again? Yeah, duh. CM Punk reinvigorated my love for wrestling. When he did the ECW thing, I thought it was so awesome and the same for Samoa Joe with Impact. Both of those guys were huge for me in reinvigorating my love for pro wrestling. It was crazy for me to see them both doing the show."
Satin again stressed that he works for FOX not WWE but his role is a way for the media to get more credible information with the access he now has to WWE.
Satin presents "The Satin Sheet" every Tuesday night at 11/10c as part of WWE Backstage on FS1. His full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.