C.M. Punk Finally Opens Up on The Art Of Wrestling(Colt Cabana's Podcast)
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CM PUNK OPENS UP ON HIS WWE EXIT
Best. In. The. World.
BY: WESLEY COPELAND
NOVEMBER 27, 2014
In an interview with Colt Cobana on Colt's podcast The Art of Wrestling, CM Punk has opened up about his perceived decision to leave the WWE.
According to Punk, it all comes down to his mental health. After repeated disappointment, he was miserable, and with enough of a bank balance to no longer need to wrestle, Punk put himself and his wellbeing first.
"Money is not everything, ladies and gentlemen," Punk says. "That will be a big theme in my story."
Punk fears that by doing the interview, and laying it all out on the table there's a chance he'll be seen as bitter.
"It's okay to be bitter about stuff. You have to eventually work through it and get over it, which is what I've done, but there are a few bright spots; a few things that still get me to this day.
"I'm the f*cking happiest I've been in I don't know how long, at least three years, legitimately. I find these other things that have made me happy and I thought this thing that I loved, that I thought I loved, it just made me so miserable. All the time, it made me miserable. I guess the black and the white of it, when you boil it all down, the essence of it, was I was miserable, I was unhappy. So f*ck it. I made myself happy. I left. That's what it boils down to. It wasn't an easy decision to make but it was also a long time coming."
One of the popular Internet theories about Punk's leaving was that he wasn't happy with his creative direction and that he refused to work with HHH.
"There's an element of truth in all those things but I can't say there was one big thing that led to my decision," he says, before reiterating the biggest reason for leaving being his health.
Regarding facing HHH at Wrestlemania, Punk says he "didn't want to give him the f*cking privilege." Punk is convinced HHH never liked him. "The way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me. [HHH thinks I'm a] piece of sh*t."
An example Punk offers revolves around a sponsorship deal. Punk was offered a huge sponsorship deal after the 'pipe bomb' moment, he then pitched the idea to Vince McMahon which would see Punk wearing UFC-style fight shorts. McMahon nixed the idea as it could potentially cause problems – lower guys on the card couldn't get the same deals, thus leading to jealously. McMahon told Punk it wasn't "[Punk's] hill to die on," then brought in Brock Lesnar, who wears UFC fight shorts with sponsors on.
Another example Punk cites of WWE saying one thing then doing another is when Punk wanted to walk out alongside his friend and fighter Chael Sonnen at a UFC event. When Punk told McMahon, The Chairman's response was that UFC was barbaric and that "someone might die." Shortly after Punk's request, HHH walked boxer Floyd Mayweather to the ring.
Of the WWE environment, Punk says it's a "creatively stifling, toxic environment."
Punk goes on to mention how he only receives a fraction of what he earns the WWE. As a rough estimate, he says if – hypothetically – he's worth $8 million, he'd only see around $500K.
"That place should be the happiest place to work and they use that as some bizarre mind-f*ck, you know? 'Go out there and have fun!' It's like 'f*ck you, this place sucks, and on top of that, you're not f*cking paying me nearly enough to do this sh*t."
Further issues with Punk not receiving his due dividend arose when WWE launched The WWE Network. Punk mentions Wrestlemania – before the network fans had to pay full price, but with the WWE Network they are – in effect – only paying $9.99 a month for it. Can the WWE still pay talent what they're owed if the biggest pay-per-view of the year only costs $10?
"WWE doesn't do anything to protect wrestlers, only to protect themselves." I got a concussion in the Royal Rumble, it's pretty ? obvious, I knew I had a concussion, everyone knew I had, and they want me to take this test, and I was like 'Your test is bullsh*t.' I took the test while texting [Colt Cobana] and listening to my headphones and I "Passed". But then they were like 'We want you to go to the ring and run the ropes.' But I just passed [their] test? 'Yeah but we still think you have a concussion.' So your test is worthless? I'm not going out in the ring like a two week rookie. Let's just call it now."
Speaking about leaving, Punk says he didn’t. He was miserable, but he never quit. According to Punk WWE were avoiding his calls. Then, two days before his wedding to AJ Lee, he gets a text from HHH asking if he had time to talk. Punk responds saying he's got to plan his honeymoon, and make final preparations for the wedding, and he'll contact HHH the moment he's back.
Furthermore, Punk says he was owed two months' worth of royalties, which when he mentioned it to HHH, HHH ignored him. "The day of my wedding I got a Fed-Ex in the mail, it was my termination papers, I was fired. Take that everyone who says I'm a 'quieter'," he says, making a joke about Twitter users unable to spell 'quitter'.
Punk laughed, he needed time off and was miserable. With some leg work, and a spare 15 minutes, he called a lawyer.
"I called a guy. A vicious, vicious lawyer – he's Jewish, from LA – I said, here's the deal, here's who I am, here's my story, I'm going on my honeymoon and I'll call you when I'm back. And he's like 'Great, let's get these mother f*ckers.' And we did. We lawyered up, and we got those mother f*ckers.
While Punk can't discuss the settlement, he says he got "everything he wanted."
"Then there was all that sh*t about the video game, which is dumb of them to advertise me" Punk says, referencing WWE 2K15. "2K Sports tweeted at me 'Do we have your attention now?' Well, 2K Sports, do I have your f*cking attention now? Thanks for the big fat check."
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lmao -
Jeez, that was a lot to digest. Punk did what he had to do for his own sanity and health but damn he is an ? and a super mark for himself.
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Knew that WWE had some shady practices but to treat one of your top stars like that....that's crazy
And is it just me
Or did he use ? and all forms of said word excessively...lol -
There definitely some truth to his story, but some of it, he came off bitter.
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I don't know how anyone can say there's truth to his story, we don't know what happened. Not saying I'm taking WWE's side, but he came off bitter as hell.
John Cena has more clout than Punk and y'all really think he's so much of a company man, y'all think he would keep quiet about about the ? medical policies? The rushing injured wrestlers back to work?
Cena ain't the type of dude to keep quiet about the ? .
I'm just saying. -
I don't know how anyone can say there's truth to his story, we don't know what happened. Not saying I'm taking WWE's side, but he came off bitter as hell.
John Cena has more clout than Punk and y'all really think he's so much of a company man, y'all think he would keep quiet about about the ? medical policies? The rushing injured wrestlers back to work?
Cena ain't the type of dude to keep quiet about the ? .
I'm just saying.
John Cena is the company man I doubt he will ever publicly diss the company. -
cena is always politically correct to the public about the company, but i definitely believe he stand up for himself backstage, and why not, he the cash cow, vince gon at least give it a listen. NOBODY is gonna diss the company while WORKING FOR the company.
and idk if u notice or not but cena come back early from every injury he ever had and stayed thru plenty more. its a reason ? sick of him bruh, overexposure(as well as being corny).
i believe punk story is heavily truthful, and of course somewhat bias and bitter(i think he told us several times its gon be some ? he say that sounds bitter). but i dont blame him, and a lotta issues he said are issues we discuss all the time bruh. watch vince set up some big match no one wants to see instead of pushing cesaro or ziggler. or hhh and friends continue to dig at db.... not too different from what punk was describing with bryan and himself, right? -
and he mention people not quite wanting to stand up for himself or talk about injuries and del rio mentioned it as well i believe. look at ziggler and cesaro career bruh. they have held christian out for almost this whole year cuz of a concussion he been healed from lol
im sure wwe doc has gotta be at least solid tho, maybe not the ? head punk described him as, but he shoulda cut that ? outta punk -
I don't know how anyone can say there's truth to his story, we don't know what happened. Not saying I'm taking WWE's side, but he came off bitter as hell.
John Cena has more clout than Punk and y'all really think he's so much of a company man, y'all think he would keep quiet about about the ? medical policies? The rushing injured wrestlers back to work?
Cena ain't the type of dude to keep quiet about the ? .
I'm just saying.
we've see cena himself get rushed back to work. when he gets injured he's seemingly back way before his recovery time is up
torn pec in october, came back in january
neck surgery in august, returns in november etc.
i can see the wwe rushing their top superstars back
cena is a company man, you said it yourself. he's not going to publicly bash the wwe. when have you ever seen him do so? what have you seen from him that makes you think he would?
punk is an ? but that alone doesnt disqualify anything he said in that interview. what does he have to lie about? the same thing he complained about was the same thing we were complaining about on this forum
how could the wwe medical staff not notice punk had a staph infection? dude worked with that ? for three months. if punk died from it then what would you be saying?
and you wonder why the ? sounds bitter. punk just confirmed what we already knew. the heads of the wwe down to their creative team and even their damn medical staff are incompetent
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I sat back and thought about his story for a little while and what he is saying is really typical WWE.
He says he was rushed back from injuries and never given time off. Bret Hart talked about going 12 years in WWE as a top guy with little time off. Roddy Piper has gone on record as saying that in the wrestling business the promoters care very little for the health of the performers (ironic but isn't Roddy Piper who CM Punk compared himself to?)
He talks about WWE killing his creativity...we've heard that before too right? We always hear about Vince being incredibly controlling over the product and the storylines therein, so we already knew that. I think this portion is a bit weird because Punk had more creative control than most people who complain about Vince.
He goes on about pay issues...well what employee doesn't feel underpaid and under appreciated ? This is kind of the story of a typical blue collar guy. When I heard him say "yeah I made millions, but I should have made 10 more" or something like that, he just seemed like an ? .
The real meat of the story is about him not getting his main event at Wrestlemania and him being jobbed out to part timers. This is a part of the story that is unique to him and when he actually seems the most sympathetic. Although he comes across like a ? about losing those big time matches to HHH, Rock, Lesnar and Undertaker he had a great point about WWE training the fans into thinking guys like him are "B" stars (granted a lot of people already consider him a B-star) who aren't worthy of going over guys like them. Even though he indirectly seemed to lobby for beating Taker at Mania (which I am 100% against) his reasoning for why he shouldn't have lost is solid.
I wasn't in favor of Punk losing to Rock or HHH but I'll admit he kind had to take the L in the match with Undertaker and the match with Lesnar, in the context of those matches he shouldn't have been winning. However the match with Rock could have been gimmicked to lead to that triple threat he wanted at Mania (and many people wanted that match too, except me because I hate triple threats, but it would have been best case scenario.)
Ultimately, it seems like WWE didnt hold Punk in the same regard as Punk holds Punk. When comparing the star power of Punk versus any of the above mentioned guys...he just isn't as big a star as they are and it can't really be debated, now he means more to the company (especially in the long run) because like he said he would be there for TV and house shows but I guess WWE didnt care about the future (arguably it's safe to say they still don't care about it).
The complaints about WWE medical staff are probably legit too, it's in WWE's best interest to make sure their performers can perform so their medical staff are probably told to rush guys back and To make sure they can perform. This is a huge problem, and if he wanted to pursue this as something he wanted to change he could easily get that done. WWE is a public company and putting their performers in danger would hurt their image.
Losing your spot to injury is something that just happens in wrestling. Numerous guys have lost pushes because they got hurt, that said some guys (Batista for instance) never lost their spot and they spent a lot of time on the IR. It's a favoritism kind of thing which is poisonous for a locker room and "team" morale. That said, politics is a huge issue in WWE's locker room anyway.
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Continued...
His digs on Ryback were hilarious and probably true, it would explain why WWE switched gears with Ryan and started jobbing him out (that and the fact that Ryback is also a ? ).
His dig at Jericho was interesting...probably his real beliefs but considering he was telling his story on his friend Colt Cabana's podcast, can you really be that mad at him? You didn't want anyone exploiting your situation for downloads and then you exploit your situation to help your friend's show (I mean who knew Colt Cabana had a show before this happened?)
Jericho's response should be interesting. I will be awaiting that.
I kind of figured HHH would be the villain in the story, they have history and to be honest it's sort of a HHH thing to be anti-whoever Vince likes (HHH didn't like Edge for instance).
Punk was physically injured, bored creatively, and emotionally drained by the job, so he quit. I understand that, I've quit jobs for much less. -
Yall after part 2 next week ill never listen to another colt podcast n nobody wants to buy his stupid fuckn shirts
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i don't think anyone will, my guy.
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I don't know how anyone can say there's truth to his story, we don't know what happened. Not saying I'm taking WWE's side, but he came off bitter as hell.
John Cena has more clout than Punk and y'all really think he's so much of a company man, y'all think he would keep quiet about about the ? medical policies? The rushing injured wrestlers back to work?
Cena ain't the type of dude to keep quiet about the ? .
I'm just saying.
actually, I think he is that type to keep quiet. -
Punk was pretty much ? and whining outside of the medical ? ....which we already knew that WWE didn't care about people's health (unless they're golden boys).
I mean he said he should be the main event over The Rock? Hell nah. He should get paid same as the Rock? Hell nah.
Should beat Brock, Taker, Rock, or even be an A-level main eventer? Again Hell Nah. He wasn't big enough (starpower) nor good enough IMO.
Should main event WM? Not the years he didn't (besides Miz and that puzzles everyone tbh).
And I don't see how he can complain about money and his push. He got a 434 day reign (that made me stop watching for a while) and went over Cena almost every time they faced. That's a pretty damn good push. He also beat the Shield 3v1 remember.
Basically, he had complaints, but most of them were overshadowed by him being a mark/fan of himself and wanting more than he got when he got so much that he seems crazy.
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actually i think he wanted to main event with the rock and be given a chance to prove he can be an a level guy, u can mention starpower but dude merch was up there with cena, and he was number one amongst the true wrestling fan. and anyone in the world would complain or want to complain about they're checks slowly getting lower and lower while their worth to their job gets higher and higher bruh come on now. plus everyone in the company money affected by the network, idk if he should be gettin brock/rock money since they bring a whole other eye to the company, but u mean to tell me he didnt have the best match on that lackluster ass mania he was talkin about? i see his point on that one. plus vince "owed" him one. and i think his point about droppin the belt was timing(triple threat at mania would have been best for business) and what would happen next(as we know wwe has no continuity on ANYONE'S storylines)
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http://wrestling-edge.com/wwe-reaction-cm-punk-interview-vince-mcmahon-unhappy-triple-h-furious/
Nearly ten months after his final appearance for WWE, CM Punk finally addressed the circumstances behind his departure from the sports-entertainment organization in an explosive two-hour interview with Colt Cabana on the “Art of Wrestling” podcast. On Figure Four Daily on F4WOnline.com on Friday, Bryan Alvarez offered insight on the reaction around WWE to the former Superstar’s controversial remarks (click here to listen).
Even with Punk having a number of detractors in WWE, Alvarez was told that virtually everybody in WWE who listened to the podcast “thought it was awesome.”
Alvarez said, “Now if you know CM Punk, CM Punk is a guy who has his lovers—maybe that’s the wrong word—he has his fans, and he has his detractors. There’s a group of people in WWE who are big fans of CM Punk, and there are people in WWE who just can’t stand the guy. When he left, I heard from people that were like, ‘Thank ? this guy has left! He drove us crazy. He was so angry.’ When he did his podcast with Colt Cabana, he admitted that at the end, he was actually sorry for how many times he told people to ? off. When it happened, I had been told from people that he was so miserable, he was such as a crabby individual, they were glad he was finally gone out of the locker room because they couldn’t handle him anymore. Now with that said, the impression that I got was, even people who did not like CM Punk, even people who really thought he was a miserable guy and were not CM Punk’s fans in the slightest, they were fans of a lot of the stuff that he talked about in the podcast.”
He continued, “It is true, there are a lot of guys in the company who are afraid to speak out, they’re afraid to say anything, they’re afraid to approach management, they’re afraid to ask questions, and CM Punk got a lot of that out in the podcast. And he opened a lot of people’s eyes that didn’t know anything about what goes on internally in WWE. So there were even people that don’t like CM Punk and don’t want him back in the company, who are happy that he did this podcast and said everything that he said.”
Alvarez said Vince McMahon is upset with Punk, but he’s not “fuming.” With the WWE Network airing a live “Stone Cold” Steve Austin podcast with the WWE Chairman and CEO immediately following Raw next Monday, Alvarez was told that it is very unlikely that he will talk about the matter in-depth. If he does, the feeling is that he will offer a “corporate answer.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque was among those hit the hardest in Punk’s two-hour long speech as The Straight Edge Superstar addressed his issues with the WWE executive throughout the show. During his meeting with Levesque and McMahon that led to his exit from WWE, Punk went off on Levesque for not putting him over in 2011 when he was riding high on the momentum from his infamous “pipe bomb” promo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Upon being told by McMahon that he would be wrestling Levesque in a ‘main event’ at WrestleMania 30, Punk recalled turning to Hunter to say, ‘All due respect, I do not need to wrestle you, you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to ? come in and squash it. And then I had to lose to ? Truth and Miz. It didn’t make any business sense then, it doesn’t make any business sense now, and I am in a position now where I can tell you that I don’t have to nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania. I don’t care if I was supposed to win.'”
Punk then noted, “Which I was. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to give him the ? privilege. I said a lot of ? in there. I told them again and Hunter, he was gritting his teeth and I knew… he never liked me. It’s one of those situations where you always hear those stories in the dirt sheets about ‘Hunter says this about Punk’ and all this negative stuff but me and him in a room together? Never any good vibes. Always negative, the way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me.”
According to Alvarez, Levesque is furious with Punk over his remarks. He said he received a text message from a person in WWE reading ‘Triple H wants to ? Punk.'”
Alvarez added that Levesque, as well his wife, Stephanie McMahon, have ‘an abject hatred’ for Punk. He is also considered to be on their no-call list.
WWE officials are also extremely unhappy with Cabana. Cabana, who was being courted by the organization for an announcing role as recently as last year. He is said to be on their “shitlist.”
hopefully hhh learns from this and gets off the ? ? when he takes over -
Triple H got in Vince's ear and kept Punk away. Vince always liked Punk. I hope Vince do sell the company cause if he goes, trips and steph go.
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Triple H got in Vince's ear and kept Punk away. Vince always liked Punk. I hope Vince do sell the company cause if he goes, trips and steph go.
what are you talking about? !
Vince didn't like punk till he was champ for a year. It was clearly stated in punks DVD and Heymans, if it wasn't for Paul punk wouldn't of made the main roster in 06. -
stone cold needs to tell vince about himself or at least about creative being some ? on his podcast, if not its really a waste of time
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vince: but punk, you are in the main event. you're wrestling triple h!
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Peezy_Jenkins wrote: »stone cold needs to tell vince about himself or at least about creative being some ? on his podcast, if not its really a waste of time
I totally agree and I would be shocked if Stone Cold did it I don't see why he wouldn't as he really ain't got ? to lose by calling Vince & Co. out.
I think the biggest and entire problem with WWE is that it's too many old heads within the company the old school mentality of politics & bigger is better.
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TheBossman wrote: »Triple H got in Vince's ear and kept Punk away. Vince always liked Punk. I hope Vince do sell the company cause if he goes, trips and steph go.
what are you talking about? !
Vince didn't like punk till he was champ for a year. It was clearly stated in punks DVD and Heymans, if it wasn't for Paul punk wouldn't of made the main roster in 06.
Of course he had to earn Vince's respect. That's a given. But look at his long title reign. He obviously took a liking to him.
The point was, triple h got his ear, and without hunter in the mix, Punk would have returned already.
Listen to that interview, punk and vince always had a great relationship, they would have worked it out.
Triple H is the reason Punk ain't returning. He got in Vince's ear. -
I think it's weird Punk took Stephanie calling him a quitter during a promo in Chicago personally. I mean dude...it's wrestling! Stephanie was using him to get heat, now I'm sure she really doesn't like him but anything said in that ring should be taken as a work first.
I think HHH (or more than likely Vince) will iron things out with Punk down the line, not anytime soon but maybe in a few years. That said, Punk IS the kind of person to hold a grudge forever, so well who knows. I don't see Punk wrestling again though but relations between Punk and WWE will improve.
