CM Punk Explains His Mindset In Patching Things Up With WWE After Leaving In 2014 And Lawsuit

CM Punk reflects on his growth over the past ten years. 

CM Punk infamously walked out on WWE after the 2014 Royal Rumble, was fired on his wedding day, and then got into a legal battle with WWE doctor Chris Amann over comments he made on Colt Cabana’s podcast. 

Nearly ten years later, Punk was able to move past everything and return to WWE at Survivor Series 2013. 

“When I left, I did stop talking to a lot of people because I was immediately embroiled in this lawsuit. I look at it now and it fed into the tribalism of them vs. me. Right or wrong, that’s how I survived. I had to draw a line somewhere. There were people that I didn’t talk to. I couldn’t trust if I said something that it wasn’t going back to them, the people suing me. It was a shit situation that I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” Punk told Ariel Helwani on MMA Hour. 

Asked how he was able to move on from everything, Punk said, “I woke up this morning. I tell people all the time, ‘I woke up this morning.’ You get one shot at all this. I see so much hate out there based on the color of someone’s skin or religion or all this stuff. We’re all here for such a short time. Maybe it’s because I’m not a religious guy and I don’t believe there is anything to look forward to. I woke up today. Cool. Everything else is gravy.”

Discussing his shift in mindset, Punk said, “I think a lot of how I handled things was a trauma response from not getting what I needed as a kid. Broken home, no money. How do I better my life and the people who were supposed to take care of me never did. Like I said, respect is a default. I’ll walk into a room and respect you. The instant you piss on my shoes, okay. Some people are like, ‘that’s crazy, how do you hold that grudge?’ What are you pissing on my shoes for? What’s the point of that? It’s weird because when I’m on television, I’m CM Punk. What does that mean? There are so many elements of who I am on TV. It’s a double-edged sword, and I get to blur that line. ‘Oh, he did this.’ That translates over and there are people who hate me because I beat Jeff Hardy and he had to leave WWE. I’ve been such a good bad guy in my career and they think that carries over into real life. When they hear stories, ‘He’s super violent backstage. Of course he is.’ They conflate the thing.”

Fans can find Punk’s comments on his return at WWE Survivor Series and how it came together by clicking here. 

Punk is set to be on commentary for the WWE World Heavyweight Title bout between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40. 

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