Current WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk will be the subject of the “Showcase Mode” in the upcoming “WWE 2K26” video game which will be released in March, giving fans a chance to experience some of Punk’s biggest moments throughout his career. One of the matches include in the mode is Punk’s memorable clash with The Undertaker at WWE WrestleMania 29, a match that saw Punk and Paul Heyman mock and make fun of the death of The Undertaker’s long-time friend and former manager Paul Bearer. Punk was asked about the storyline and the use of Bearer’s death during a recent interview with “Complex News,” with Punk admitting that he knew it would be tough, but once he was given the approval by those close to Bearer, he was off to the races.
“I mean it was heavy because, while I knew Percy, I didn’t know him or have a connection to him like a lot of people in the company did, like Undertaker did. So I was careful to make sure and his family members, I think his son signed off on it because I was like ‘I don’t want to do this unless everybody’s okay with it,’ because at that time, my deal was being a bad guy and trying to just get people to pay to see me beat up. So I wasn’t sure if they were going to be agreeable to everything because, once you give me the green light, like ‘Are you sure about this? Like I’m–it’s going to be pretty heavy.'”
Punk revealed that he was told by people close to Bearer that the late WWE Hall of Famer would have been a big fan of his work, which ultimately put Punk’s mind at ease. The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion rounded off by saying that it was an honor to given the responsibility of handling such a sensitive angle, and while it was obviously a shame that Bearer passed away, he will always be grateful about the fact that he was able to take something so real and personal and use it to blur the lines in WWE.
Please credit “Complex News” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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