CM Punk Reveals Why He Left WWE

In the Nov. 27 edition of Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast, CM Punk reveals why he left WWE in 2014. As previously reported, Punk left the company while still under contract on Jan. 27 and had not revealed any information about his departure until joining Cabana.

Punk began the podcast telling his story.

“I don’t want this to be a shoot interview. I’m sure someone would have paid me handsomely for this story, but that’s not what it’s about, money is not everything ladies and gentlemen. That’ll be a big theme with my story. I’m going to talk as openly as I wish to about the circumstances of me leaving WWE, and then if anybody has any questions, based on that subject, don’t ask me how big Batista’s dick is, we’ll set up an email [and I’ll respond on next week’s podcast]. 

I think a lifetime of watching people talk about stuff when they shouldn’t talk about stuff, or cryptically talk about stuff, like, “I got this really big awesome thing coming, and you’ll know more about it later,” and then something falls through and you’re just the asshole who just tweeted something about this big thing, and I never wanna be that guy. So, there was large periods of time with me being dark on Twitter, then me tweeting about hockey, reading responses, and then remembering why I had been dark on Twitter. 

But, you know, F*ck it. I don’t know exactly where to begin, but I could probably go back to where I re-signed, you know when I was out the door, and I had my mind made up and I wasn’t going to re-sign, and then I had this meeting with Vince. I wouldn’t say he convinced me to re-sign, I would say I talked myself into giving it the ‘ol’ college try.’ I think a lot of people believe these powerful words I say about change, and changing the place and all that, and people constantly tweet me all the time and tell me, ‘well you can’t change it from your couch in Chicago,’ and I absolutely disagree, cause that’s exactly what I did.

I almost had to change the place by sitting on my couch, not permanently, but when I split in January, they changed everything. Part of me thinks they changed a lot of the stuff to spite me, and that’s fine, because certain people at that certain time that deserved certain things GOT those things. Something that I never got, and it was nice to see that. But I don’t want to sound like an old timer, like, “oh I paved the way for these guys,” that’s not what it’s about. It’s about me telling my story.

I’m going to try to do it as positive and non bitter as I possibly can, because, and here’s a news flash for you ladies and gentlemen, it’s ok to be bitter about stuff. You have to eventually work through it and get over it, which is something I’ve done, but there are a few bright spots, I’ll call them, a few things that still get me to this day, and they’ll probably come out. I just don’t wanna sound like that bitter guy, that’s why I don’t wanna have this be a shoot interview. 

I don’t want it to be, ‘hey, let’s just talk sh*t and bash WWE, you know. Cause whenever they had me backed into a corner, I knew I wasn’t the easiest guy to deal with, or the nicest guy to deal with.” 

Punk goes on to say while he is very happy now, his last days in WWE were miserable. He calls the creative environment inside WWE as “toxic.” Punk claims Vince McMahon stifled him from being a part of a number of things, such as having sponsors on his ring gear, only to see other superstars such as Brock Lesnar get to participate in such deals. He also claims that as champion, he did all of the same appearances and has made as many “wishes”[Make-A-Wish] as John Cena, but the company never advertised it.

He goes on to say WWE makes their superstars work for terrible pay and little-to-no benefits. The company also makes superstars, including Punk, work hurt and sometimes while suffering from concussions. Punk describes a situation in which he was forced to work while concussed. Punk also describes multiple times, especially with a reckless superstar such as Ryback, that he was pushed into matches fresh off of surgeries and still somewhat injured.

Punk mentions that Ryback is extremely stiff and dangerous in the ring. He says Ryback, real name Ryan Reeves, even broke his ribs with a straight kick to the midsection. He also claims that he came up with The Shield, but no one gave him the credit and WWE officials screwed up the plan involving Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose. Punk designed their debut and angle to be a stable around him, but somewhere along the way, officials changed it.

He also claims the WWE Network and pay-offs from PPV’s also made an impact on him leaving. Punk claims the company is paying their talent basically nothing for the amount of days and hours they put into their craft.

While Punk kept saying this interview was not a shoot, it was very similar, if not indeed what he said he didn’t want it to be. However, the purpose of Punk explaining why he left the company was for his true fans, which he says he loves. He gets EVERYTHING off of his chest, and this is a must-listen for people who want to hear the full story.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

Editor’s Note:
This interview tells ALL! It is a MUST listen for WWE fans! This MIGHT just change your view on the company. I really don’t know how it won’t.