The promo’s unpolished nature was precisely what drew Eric Bischoff further toward it, even if, for a time, he wasn’t sure if they were going to reach whatever end game they had in mind for the segment. “About two-thirds of the way through it,” he explained, “I’m going, ‘This is not producing much. I think they’re probably coming up a little short. Until the end, and it paid off spectacularly. It was like, ‘Motherf*****s, they got me!”

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Bischoff gave kudos to all three men involved, specifically praising Punk and McIntyre for working through the difficulties of being unable to get physical in such a heated confrontation due to Punk’s current injury status. The fact that the whole debate took place around what Punk might do at WrestleMania, during McIntyre’s match with Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, either as special referee or on color commentary (ultimately revealed to be the latter), drew extra praise from “Easy E.”

“We’re out here having a debate between two megastars and building tension about whether or not Punk’s gonna be a referee or a color commentator?” he inquired aloud. “I mean, the stakes were a little limp. But it all came together. I thought they did a great job, and they deserve the pop that they got ratings-wise.”

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Ultimately, Bischoff figuratively raised Punk’s hand but came away impressed by the entire segment, as well as the episode of “Raw” itself. “I thought Punk handled it pretty well. You know, Drew probably wishes he had a moment or two back to redo again if he could but f***, I thought it was great. The whole show was off the charts great.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Strictly Business and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.