WWE Backstage Recap: CM Punk Is Back, Charlotte Makes Special Guest Appearance

By Joshua Gagnon

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s live coverage of tonight's WWE Backstage on FS1, featuring CM Punk joining the panel (Renee Young, Booker T, and Paige). Charlotte is tonight's special guest. Stephanie McMahon to have a one-on-one interview with Renee Young.

- Highlights are showing from this week's SmackDown and RAW: Carmella becoming Bayley's next challenger, Goldberg / Bray Wyatt, Charlotte / Rhea Ripley, Randy Orton taking out Matt Hardy, and Shayna Baszler biting Becky Lynch.

- Becky and Shayna is brought up first. Booker says the bite caught him off guard, brings up Gangrel, says that's what pro wrestling is. Paige got the Mike Tyson vibes, more like a one time thing. Punk says Baszler is a bad ass, and probably didn't need that. Punk says the biting thing could be used if she figure out during a match she wasn't going to beat her opponent.

- Moving to Randy Orton's attack on Edge, and more recently, Matt Hardy on last Monday's RAW. Punk is asked about the segment, he says (jokingly?) he doesn't want to say anything good about Orton. Punk says everyone can get complacent, but when Orton gets into a story that he can really sink his teeth into, nobody is better. So far, Punk says he's into the story. Paige brings up if it's the last time we see Matt on WWE TV.

- Charlotte joined the panel in-studio. They talked about her going back to NXT, said she was a bit nervous going back. Young is asked about some of the main roster people going to NXT full-time, like Finn Balor. Charlotte says Balor was a major part of NXT, and he can help a lot of the newer Superstars. Booker asks who should be brought up next, Charlotte instantly said Belair. Can't believe how good she is this early in her career. Punk is asked Charlotte about dealing with the pressure of a WrestleMania (or even back in NXT). Charlotte says she gets hit with moments of nervousness, but the passion for the business helps her (along with some dancing and joking around before hand).

Ronda Rousey is brought up, Charlotte is asked what she learned about working with Rousey. Charlotte said she felt like she needed to prove herself as it was originally Becky vs. Rousey at Evolution. Charlotte was the "fill-in" after Becky got hurt, so she wanted to show everyone that she is a legitimate athlete and wanted to proved it. Charlotte is asked what the pinnacle is for her, and she says she wants to keep getting better. Punk brings up Simone Johnson (Rock's daughter) signing with WWE, and says Charlotte is one of the few people who could really understand what she's going to go through with a living legend father in wrestling. Charlotte says she has to block out the noise and not take her great relationships for granted. Continues that it's good to ask Rock for advice, but she really needs to listen to the coaches at the WWE PC for more non-bias advice.

- Earlier this week, Renee Young talks with Stephanie McMahon at SoFi Stadium after it was announced WrestleMania 37 will head to Inglewood, California. Stephanie is asked about coming to the stadium, she says it's remarkable, talks up the new stadium. Stephanie asked her favorite LA moment, she mentions Vince McMahon tearing both his quads at Royal Rumble before WrestleMania 21, and couldn't travel shortly afterwards. Stephanie had to fill in his role and go to the pitch meetings in his place. Wrestlers pitched the MITB Ladder Match at WrestleMania idea to Stephanie, which took ended up taking place.

- WrestleMania moment is shown: WrestleMania 30 – Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton.

- Look back at the rise of KofiMania where Mustafa Ali got injured and Kofi Kingston ended up replacing him in the Elimination Chamber. We also see clips of his gauntlet match on an episode of SmackDown, featuring him taking on Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and others. Kingston is interviewed during this segment, says he wanted to face all of the guys he took on, the fan in him was so excited to have all these dream matches. He said the fans really got behind him during this match, even though he lost, he had so many positive comments on his timeline and felt like they were on the verge of something special.

- Hot tag segment: Bayley vs. Carmella, who should win? Booker says Bayley is awesome, but is still trying to find herself. Carmella has been consistent, calling her the female Miz of the division. Punks laughs at that. Dirt Sheet or VIP lounge? Paige goes with Dirt Sheet, says she really enjoys how it's different each week. Aleister Black's next opponent? Punk picks WWE US Champion Andrade, saying Black should go after the title. Mentions Zelina Vega may, or may not like that.

- Young talks about "#GiveDivasAChance" in 2015 after a women's match ended incredibly quickly. Fans wants more from the division, which eventually lead to the women's revolution in WWE. We then see Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Paige, and Becky Lynch brought up to the main roster in 2015, also Lita introducing the new WWE Women's Championship. A number of "firsts" were also show, including Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble, MITB, and Elimination Chamber.

Young talks with Paige and Charlotte about that time in 2015. Young brings up AJ Lee and The Bella Twins originally making a push for the division around that time. Paige talked about how great Lee was on the mic, but WWE wasn't giving enough airtime in the ring. Paige said that quick match was originally scheduled for two minutes, so they decided to just make it 30 seconds, which then got the fans riled up. Charlotte talked about more individual characters coming along in the women's division, as opposed to a group of women all being viewed as basically the same during the Divas era. Charlotte noted the depth of the division grew as more women were brought up from NXT. Mentions Nikki Bella's incredible growth from when she first started compared to her match against Ronda Rousey at Evolution.

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