CM Punk Is “Absolutely” Open To Wrestling Industry Return, Says He Hasn’t Heard From Fox
CM Punk talks potential return and more.
CM Punk continues to make the media rounds as he promotes his horror flick “Girl On The Third Floor.” Punk had been in the news prior to WWE premiering on Fox and AEW premiering on TNT, with rumors suggesting that he would appear on one of the shows. Both premieres passed without an appearance from CM Punk.
Speaking on Barstool Sports’ My Mom’s Basement podcast, Punk was asked if he was open to returning to wrestling, not necessarily in the ring, but the industry in general.
“Absolutely,” stated Punk. “I also think that, for five years, I’ve always been asked that question. No matter what I say, it gets reduced to clickbait and warped. We’ve gone through I don’t know how many iterations of ‘Punk hates wrestling.’ None of that was ever the case. Am I open to it? I’ve always been open to it. My attitude has always been, ‘I don’t see it happening.’ I just think I’ve talked about it more recently. I don’t think my attitude has changed. Just because I say things like, ‘Oh it would take a really big bag (to get me to go back).’ So people use their imaginations. Then there’s the haters who are like, ‘he’s just doing that to try and stay relevant.’ That’s not the case at all. When you do interviews, people are gonna ask me about my past. I’ve never been one to be like, ‘Don’t ask me this.’ I think that ruins the fucking interview.'”
Punk continued, “I actually think both WWE and AEW have used the fact that I’ve been like ‘whatever’ about it, to rope people in every now and again to make people think that I am coming back on specific shows and specific times. ‘Oh, we have a mystery opponent or mystery partner.’ And everyone is like, ‘It’s CM Punk!’ There’s nothing wrong with them kinda trying to do that.”
Earlier in October, Punk confirmed reports that he tested on-camera for WWE Backstage, WWE’s studio show produced by Fox Sports. Despite more speculation that Punk would be joining the program, no official announcement has been made regarding his status.
On the subject of recent offers, Punk noted, “[AEW] texted me second-hand an offer and I was like, ‘real offers only, please.’ Who knows what’s going to happen. I did the Fox [audition]. Haven’t heard a thing.”
Punk later stated, “I was told WWE was not involved. But who knows. It could be why I haven’t heard anything yet. I made it clear to them that, if I landed this, I wouldn’t be here just to shit on everything because nobody wants to watch that. The way they approached me with it was, ‘We have [Alex Rodriguez] for baseball, Troy Aikman for [football]. And then you for wrestling. That would be your authority. We would like you to be the analyst.'”
Punk praised WWE Backstage hosts Renee Young and Booker T, believing them to be great for that role.
“I guess I’m the white whale in pro wrestling,” said Punk. “I’m open to the idea. I just haven’t been approached properly. I’m not courting anybody to show up with a dozen roses to my front door. Even just talking about it is kinda gross and I know it’s annoying. Master P reached out on Instagram and wants to talk to me. I don’t know what that’s about.”
Punk went on to say that he doesn’t need the money to come back.
Fightul Select reported Fox did not make Punk an offer, noting that “it was left in the hands of higher-ups at Fox that seemed like they’d ‘moved on’ as recently as this week. Nothing is concrete in that regard, though.”
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit My Mom’s Basement podcast with a h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
