DDP Contrasts Differences Between CM Punk In WWE And AEW

During the latest episode of DDP Snake Pit, legendary wrestlers Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Diamond Dallas Page had a conversation about AEW stars CM Punk and Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Punk is currently the number one contender for the AEW World Championship, having recently come off a feud with MJF that centered itself around MJF's acclaimed promo work.

"My promos ... I wanted a little bit of everybody," Page said, recalling his own career. "From Jake to Dusty to Savage, everybody, a little piece sprinkled in so that you don't really notice it ... I look at MJF, he came in like this and he was just going to stay committed the whole way through. And the stuff he did with Punk — and I think Punk is better today than when he was the man up in [WWE]."

"I think he also might feel safety," Roberts added. "In that other company, you've got to be guns out and watching every which way to save your ass. Now he's in a place that he feels pretty comfortable."

But according to Page, it wasn't just AEW's working environment that led to the success of the Punk/MJF feud, which ended in a dog collar match. It was both wrestlers' understanding of and respect for wrestling history.

"They're both students of the game, and now you can go back and bring something back that's old, that's new," Page said. "I love the old school, and that's really like the '70s, early '80s sh*t. Getting to partake in that ... and make it like, 'We're going to go back in time, and we've got them the same way.'

"Since probably a little bit before 'Mania, because I've noticed that the WWE crowds are getting hotter and hotter. The fans are getting more and more involved. AEW, they've already been there, they've been there since the jump, they're like an ECW crowd. So when you've got that crowd and you're talking about a dog collar match, again, what's old is new. And the commitment that you put into that is what takes it to the next level."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit DDP Snake Pit with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.