Paul Heyman’s return to WWE would never have happened if not for the ‘Best in the World’ CM Punk, the WWE Hall of Famer shared this week.

After a six-year hiatus, Heyman returned to WWE in 2012 and would begin appearing on-screen with Punk during his run as WWE Champion.

In a recent interview with “Inside The Ropes,” Heyman discussed how it was Punk who brought him back to pro wrestling. He said,

“When Punk went on television in 2011 [to cut the pipebomb] I had been forgotten by that time. I was out of this business, doing a lot of the digital work with Brock Lesnar, who was in UFC. Brock and I had written Brock’s autobiography together. I was gone. I was part of history, part of a history that was quickly being written out and forgotten. And Punk came on television in Las Vegas, of all places, the home of UFC, and said, ‘That’s right, I’m a Paul Heyman guy.’

“Because he was so hot at the time, people started Googling, ‘Well, who’s this guy Paul Heyman?’ Those who knew me were shocked to hear my name, and those who had no clue who I was became interested in who I was. So thanks to him, a year later, I’m back on television with Brock Lesnar.”

Punk and Heyman remained on-screen allies until 2013. The pair recently reunited on WWE TV in the lead-up to Survivor Series: WarGames.

CM Punk is currently owed a favor by Heyman. Punk will face Seth Rollins during the debut episode of WWE RAW on Netflix on January 6.