Triple H recently looked back on his conversations with CM Punk and Bruno Sammartino that led to both men’s WWE returns. The WWE CCO was asked on the SI Media Podcast about opening up a dialogue with Punk that led to the latter’s return to the company and whether there are people he wouldn’t talk to about potentially coming back.
“There are people out there where, because of things they did where you just can’t get outside of the scope of ‘that would be a negative. No matter how you cut it, it would be a negative,’” Triple H said (per Fightful). “But I would always be open to the conversation, no matter who it was. When Punk and I were having these conversations with Nick and going through this, when we first got on the phone, one of the things I said was, ‘I want to clear the air. I’m not the same guy I was 10-15 years ago. If I was, I wasted 10-15 years of my life. I’ve grown. I’ve changed. I have a different point of view. I would believe you’re not the same person you were 10 years ago and that you have changed. Let’s both assume that and then wipe everything else, bad thoughts, whether real or imagined, let’s get rid of them and say these are two different people that are going to talk about doing business together. How can we approach that in a way that is just, let’s talk about it. If we find that we don’t have a common goal, no worries, that’s just business. If we do, wonderful, let’s do something big together.’”
He continued, “Everybody changes, everybody grows, everybody moves on, whether positive or negative, and things people did in the past or bad blood can be overcome for the right reasons. I believe that now, I believed that years ago when I was talk to Bruno. I believe it when I was talking to Warrior. All these people that, over time, people told me, when I first went to Vince and said, ‘I want to talk to Bruno,’ he said, ‘If you want to waste your time, go ahead. It’s never going to happen.’ It took me two and a half years, but we got there. I believe those conversations can happen and people can change. I will never say never, but we’ll have to see.”
Punk made his return to WWE at Survivor Series 2023. Sammartino reconciled with WWE and accepted a Hall of Fame nomination back in 2013.
