CM Punk Explains His Recent Hiatus From WWE Programming

WWE Undisputed CM Punk joined Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg on ESPN New York this week to discuss tonight’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. CM Punk discussed his recent time away from WWE and more. Following WrestleMania 42, Punk disappeared from WWE programming until his return earlier this month on Monday Night Raw in Chicago.

On the July 6 edition of WWE Raw, Punk returned to TV, beating Sami Zayn to win the WWE Undisputed Title. According to Punk, his recent time off was the time he took time off work without having a major injury or surgery. Below are some highlights of Punk’s comments:

CM Punk on His Recent Hiatus and Time Off From WWE

“To in my business in this company, for me to be able to say that I had time off and it wasn’t due to injury or a surgery is remarkable. And it was the first time in my career I had time off without having to go get surgery or be injured. I just hung out with my wife. You know, I had a — I’m not going to say a rough year, you know, like suffering is relative. Like I was heavyweight champion over on Raw for quite some time, and during that entire time I was champion, I had at least three or four people that were very close to me pass away. And each time I was at work the next day, you know, I didn’t talk about it publicly. I showed up partially because it helped me, you know, being here amongst my road family and being able to connect with the fans on that level helped me get through it, but there was still some stuff I needed to process. So, you know, my time away was just to kind of reset. And one day away from my wife is one day too many, you know. So, like, I’ve been with her like every single day, and now that I’m back. I’m champ, and I’m on the road, and I’m as full-time as full-time gets. If you’re upset that I was mourning some dead friends, I think you should check yourself. We should celebrate people taking some time for themselves.”

On How WWE Has Changed for the Better Since He Came Back in 2023

“And of course, there’s always going to be more improvements that need to be made, but it’s a far cry from what it used to be. That’s for certain. I can tell people that it’s a different place, and they can either take my word for it or they can see for themselves, you know, like, I mean, even April, my wife, you know, like, I couldn’t convince her. I didn’t even try. Like, this place is different. It’s something that you have to witness and experience for yourself.”

On Why He Stopped Using Twitter/X

“I honestly think it’s like bot farms, and they just attach onto whatever the hell an algorithm is, and they repeat and regurgitate what other people are saying. So, it winds up just being like this cesspool of negativity, and it’s pretty wild, and it’s pretty unhealthy. The thing that got me to abandon Twitter was that I shattered my foot, and like I just saw somebody say like they were happy about it, and I just went, ‘Oh,’ it didn’t hurt my feelings. I just went, ‘Oh, this is not a comment that I would have seen if I didn’t look at Twitter, so I’m just going to stop looking at this.'”

CM Punk teams with Cody Rhodes later tonight at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden. They will face Sami Zayn and Gunther in a tag team bout.

If Zayn and Gunther win, they will be added to Punk and Rhodes’ WWE Undisputed Title bout at SummerSlam. Tonight’s event will air live on the ESPN App in the U.S. and stream on Netflix internationally.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ESPN New York with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.