Triple H: Collaborating with CM Punk is ‘one of my favorite things at TV’

After having a difficult relationship in the past, Paul “Triple H” Levesque now loves working with CM Punk.

Levesque delved into his relationship with Punk while appearing on the High Performance podcast. He admitted that there was “probably a dislike of each other” during Punk’s previous run with WWE, but that was based on bad communication leading to mistrust. At that time, Levesque was the in-between person between the creative team and Punk and was trying to smooth their issues over, which resulted in Punk seeing him as the enemy.

More than a decade later, Levesque and Punk are both different people and have a much better relationship. They had a phone conversation to help work through their issues before Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series 2023. They’ve improved their communication with Levesque leading creative and have been able to work through any problems that arise.

“We’ve had a couple of moments since his return — like, there was one moment where [after his return] and they had told him something creatively and they told me, ‘He does not like this.’ And I was like, ‘Ok, I’ll talk to him.’ Went and talked to him and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ You know, told him the creative. And he was like, ‘No, it’s good, whatever.’ And I was like, ‘I know you don’t like it, everybody’s told me. So let’s be open.’ So then he complained about what it was, and I said, ‘Ok, let’s go sit and talk about it [and] come up with something good.’ Like, I’m not married to that stuff, it’s just a thought and an idea,” Levesque said. “And he was angry and he walked away from me. And then a couple minutes later, he came back. He was like, ‘I’m sorry, I have post-traumatic stress disorder still from before. I forget that it’s [different]. I’m not used to this process. I would love to sit down with you and be creative.’

“And that sort of changed, like a paradigm shift for us relationship-wise. Now, it’s a funny thing for me to even say: Sitting down and being collaborative with CM Punk is one of my favorite things at TV. Because he shares a very similar view, at the end of the day, of the business as I do. So it’s like fun now for me.”

Levesque said that, 10 or 12 years ago, he would have rather pulled his own teeth out than collaborate with Punk for an hour, but he now thinks it’s awesome to riff with Punk and come up with creative ideas.

Punk is just five days away from his first-ever WrestleMania main event. A triple threat match between Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins will headline WrestleMania 41 night one in Las Vegas this Saturday. Paul Heyman will be in Punk’s corner for the match.

It’s a huge weekend ahead for Levesque as well. In addition to overseeing WrestleMania, he’s being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this Friday night as the headliner of the 2025 class.

High Performance’s full interview with Levesque can be watched below: