Steve Maclin Reveals He Was Set To Be CM Punk’s First Challenger If Punk Had Signed With TNA
Maclin would have been the first talent to get a crack at Punk in TNA.
There was a period of time when CM Punk was away from All Elite Wrestling following the physical altercation that took place at AEW All Out 2022 involving him, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson). During that time, Punk was present at several TNA shows in Chicago.
Current TNA talent Steve Maclin spoke to Pro Wrestling Illustrated and shared that after Punk was let go from AEW, there were discussions between him and TNA. That information was relayed to Maclin by former TNA President Scott D’Amore.
While at dinner, D’Amore told Maclin that if Punk had signed with TNA, Maclin would have been his first challenger. While sharing that story, Maclin recounted Punk being kind to him when he was an extra at WWE.
“If you want some behind-the-scenes dirt that nobody knows about, CM Punk, before almost possibly signed with TNA — was coming in and I was gonna be his first challenger, which I found out right as Scott D’Amore was getting let go or was let go. We were having dinner one night and he let me know, ‘Yeah, Punk was gonna almost sign there and then you were gonna be his first challenger.’ I was like, ‘Sh*t!’ That would have been cool. You see his time from coming back into wrestling, what happened at AEW and to even WWE, it just shows the star that he is now and that he’s always kind of been that way… that culture. He’s literally a cult of personality, if you wanna play the cliché to the song but, he just shows the magnitude that he’s one of the last alive superstars.
There were a few times he was behind the scenes in Chicago (for TNA). It was cool to just see him… I’m like, ‘Oh, CM Punk, what’s up, man?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, what’s up Mr. Maclin?’ I was like, ‘Cool. Good to see you.’ Because he was really good to me when I was an extra in WWE and you always hear the horror stories — an extra — when you say hello to people, like, people shun you and stuff but he was very respectful and I never forgot that. That’s always something in wrestling that I never forget is the people that were nice to me on the way up.”
Punk has been back with WWE for two years. He is currently the World Heavyweight Champion on Monday Night Raw.
In April 2024, Steve Maclin re-signed with TNA Wrestling. He is coming off his second reign as TNA International Champion.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Pro Wrestling Illustrated with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
