wrestling / Columns

Thoughts on CM Punk Breaking His Silence

November 28, 2014 | Posted by Jack McGee

On January 27th, the day after the Royal Rumble, CM Punk parted ways with WWE. When this happened there was a wide range of opinion of what went down. We heard that there was a meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H and that Punk “walked out” on the company. This led to accusations that Punk simply took his ball and went home “because he didn’t get this way”. On some level this is true, and if you listen to Punk’s appearance on Colt Cabana’s Podcast (and I suggest you do to hear the story in his own words) in some ways this is not true. He went home, he was hurting, and was later suspended and then terminated. New he got officially on his wedding day, which was some spectacular planning by WWE to twist the knife in a bit more.

Now this is only one side of the story, Punk’s side, but over the years we have heard horror stories about how WWE runs this business. How Vince McMahon rides talent until they are not worth anything to him and then gets rid of them. Much of what Punk says in the interview falls within these stories. He made it very clear that his intention wasn’t to totally bash WWE, and that he wanted to tell his story here. While at times I get that people feel this is sour grapes, but if even a fraction of the story is true, WWE comes off very poor and even irresponsible.

Today I want to discuss some of what Punk had to say and share my opinion on what we have learned…

Punk spoke about working with the Ryback, an experience he was not a fan of noting that, “it took 20 years off of his life”. Judging from the conversation, Punk says that he and the Ryback had heat and that Ryback intentionally kicked him as hard as he could in the ribs during a match, leading to injury. Not holding back, Punk labels Ryback a “steroid guy” and that he calls them as he sees them. He was outraged that 2½ weeks after knee surgery that he’d have to work Ryback in a TLC match. He also was insulted that he’d have to work with a guy that previously hurt him following the Undertaker match at WrestleMania when he feuded with Heyman. He feels as if this was a complete downgrade, but says he went to Ryback and tried to make good and start with a clean slate so that they could have a good program. In one-way Punk needed to stand up and refuse to work the Ryback, due to injury and because it made no sense, but he did so anyway. On the other hand, WWE should have really looked out for one of their top performers and protected him.

One of the biggest things Punk discusses is the injuries he suffered, and the fact that his body was completely broken down. He does not have kind things to say regarding WWE Doctor Chris Amann. Punk discusses always being asked to come back early from injury early. But the scariest thing is the discussion of what ended up being a major MRSA infection. Punk had been feeling ill and Dr. Amann constantly giving him Z-Paks (antibiotics) over the course of several months. Punk had a lump on his back, which Dr. Amann thought was a “fatty deposit,” and is a common occurrence for the performers. They are usually just cut out, and apparently this is a locker room thing where everyone watches. Dr. Amann would refuse to cut it out and simply gave Punk more antibiotics, which in a way was good because he needed those meds. Punk would eventually go see AJ’s doctor, who informed him that he has been working with a severe MRSA infection for months, and that “he should be dead”. If you’ve never had dealings with severe MRSA infections, they can escalate quickly and can cause severe damage if not properly dealt with. Also if not treated, they can go full on toxic and kill you. Usually you have to undergo several days of IV antibiotic treatment, I know this because I had a very severe one at one time, and spent 14-days in the hospital. Punk discusses that WWE is only out for themselves and to make sure that you can go for your match or segment (bashing the concussion testing and noting that WWE only does that because of the NFL lawsuit). We have all heard similar stories over the years, but this one could have been very bad for the company had Punk fallen seriously ill. Dr. Amann comes across in the story as completely irresponsible, and while only one side of the story, it comes across as very believable. Again, if only a portion of this is true, it’s a pretty damning case of Dr. Amann. On the other hand, to play devil’s advocate, you are a professional wrestler and practice BJJ. You are at high risk for these types of infections, and when Dr. Amann refused to treat an issue that stayed for months, Punk should have seen another doctor. For as much as Dr. Amann comes off badly here, Punk had some responsibility to look out for himself here.

Another large part of the interview focuses on Punk’s desire to main event WrestleMania. He even says that he feels as if his WWE run was a failure because he never got that honor. He discusses the match with Taker and notes that he worked the match with a huge chip on his shoulder because he wanted to prove that he deserved the main event spot. He says that Vince, Kevin Dunn, Triple H and others said that he has the best match on that night. When Punk later would use this praise to parlay a WrestleMania main event, they told him that “that was a min event match”. Punk’s response was that the last match is the main event and that if he was the main event then he wanted paid as such. Punk admits that being so obsessed with the WrestleMania main event led to a lot of his decisions to come back early, noting that if he did this for the company and worked hard, maybe Vince would do for him what he did for Foley and give him his WrestleMania main event. Punk is devastated that he never got the chance, and I an understand this. This is not a Zack Ryder talking here, this is a guy that was the main event, the champion for over 400 days and a guy that was outselling John Cena at times. He had every right to think he had the chance to get the main event spot, but he never got it and I feel that this only adds to his hate of the business at this time.

The interaction and relationship with Vince McMahon and Triple H is not portrayed well here. Over and over again it comes off as Punk willing to work with the company and do his job even when it wasn’t the best for him. Now obviously he has some responsibility here, but the WWE constantly asking so much of him and Vince promising that “I’ll owe you one” and then getting nothing from it makes the company look bad. The story about Triple H essentially pulling him from 12 Rounds 2 for Randy Orton without even calling him makes the stories of Triple H not liking Punk come off as completely believable. Punk certainly has a lot of animosity, especially because Triple H came in during the Summer of Punk II, beat Punk and killed his momentum and then left again. But that displeasure doesn’t just sit with Triple H, he voiced displeasure with how he had to lose to Lesnar, Rock and Taker. Now the argument doesn’t come down to simply losing, his issues were with the fact that he’s have to lose and then (in Lesnar and Taker’s case) they wouldn’t be there for any follow up. Punk felt that this was another case of hurting his marketability, causing diminishing returns. In the case of the Rock, he worked for a triple threat at WrestleMania with Rock and Cena, but was shot down. He also says that he was the only one asking how bonus money would work with the WWE Network and that he never got an answer. Even Randy Orton would come up to him and ask, but Punk never had an answer because no one would talk. We keep hearing that WWE hasn’t really told talent how much of this will work now, which is complete bullshit. You can’t play games with money.

Again, this is one side of the story, but if we are to believe even a portion of it, it simply comes across as Punk working hard and always giving when the company asked, but never being given what he was promised or desired, even though Vince promised him at least three times that “I’ll owe you one”. Does Punk come across bitter at times? Yes, yes he does. But let me ask you, have you ever been in a work environment and been promised the moon, only to constantly get shot back down to Earth? I know I have.

To be completely honest, when Punk left, I was one of those that felt he walked out in an inappropriate way. It seemed as if he took the ball and went home because he was denied a WrestleMania main event and was going to have to work Triple H. I felt that with what I knew then that he acted like a petulant child. But if he is to be believed, and after listening to the man tell his tale in his own words, I came away on his side here. Yes, wrestling is a business and in the world of business your job is always far from perfect. But the tale comes across as one of sacrifice on Punk’s part, and broken promises on the side of the WWE. He does say that he got everything he wanted and more in his settlement, and sounded very pleased about that.

The saddest part of all of this is the fact that Punk, who at one time loved the wrestling business and was a gifted performer, now hates the very business he spent 15 years working in. A business he sacrificed for to become the “best in the world”. And what may be even sadder is the fact that he’d rather sit on his couch or even work at Starbucks, because at least “I’d get insurance there”. I guess the good news is that while Punk comes away as a broken man in many ways, he says he’s happier than he has been in years, and for that I am glad. Unfortunately the tale he tells reminds me of something I learned a long time ago, while I love wrestling, it is a really shitty business.

Thanks for the memories Punk, I appreciate what you’ve done, and hope that you remain happier than ever.

Jack McGee is an aspiring investigative journalist with interests covering TV, Movies, Wrestling, MMA and Sports. When not hunting the Incredible Hulk, Jack works on his surfing, his Johnny Utah like throwing motion and origami.

article topics :

Ryback, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, Jack McGee