CM Punk On Why He Wouldn’t Have Come Back If He’d Already Main Evented WrestleMania

CM Punk recently explained why he probably wouldn’t have returned to WWE if he had already main evented a WrestleMania before he left. The World Heavyweight Champion had his first WrestleMania main event last year when he headlined night one against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, and will headline night two this year defending his title against Roman Reigns.

Punk was very vocal during his first run about not getting a main event on WrestleMania, and he explained in an interview with All the Smoke why he would have been less likely to return if he had. He also noted that despite having that goal now, he still has a lot he feels like he has to accomplish. You can see the highlights below:

On Why He Wouldn’t Have Returned If He’d Already Main Evented WrestleMania:

“I think that’s just about being a goal-oriented person. And again, I already mentioned it, I made such a big deal about it before and I put so much pressure on myself. And everybody knew that like, that was my target. And I almost think it was used against me in a way, you know? It was dangled like a carrot, because they knew this is something I wanted. So they knew they could manipulate me based on that. And now, if I did it before — because there was so much bad blood and not the greatest exit — if I had already done it, I don’t think I would have bothered to kind of like look back. It would have been a closed book. It would have been a ‘Been there, done that, experienced it, don’t need to do it again.’

“Because to me, it’s all about the experiences. I want to be the best I can be. And you have to surround yourself with better people, better wrestlers, better players, smarter — like, a coach is a coach for a reason. But I’m always in pursuit of trying to be, even if it’s just that 1% better every single day. So I need those new experiences, and I need to to operate and perform at the highest level under the brightest lights with the most pressure. So that’s why I always chased that Mania main event. And I really do think if I had it prior to me coming back, I would have been less inclined to come back.”

On What He Has Left to Accomplish:

“So much more. So much more, because my perspective has changed drastically. I think wrestling can be… to me, there’s so much more about wrestling than just the in-ring stuff, especially now that my perspective has changed. So we need brains behind the operation. We need coaches, we need people who are are passionate about it and who are smart to the business. And sometimes the best wrestlers don’t become the best trainers or the best coaches, just like how the best players — like I mean, Jordan, Kobe, you didn’t see these guys like coaching. Everybody’s different, there’s different levels to everything.

“But then you have those players that maybe weren’t even the brightest players on the court, they make the best coaches. You know, they’re X’s and O’s guys. I think I’m one of those guys. I think I’m one of those rare guys that can be both. So that’s — to me, what is left for me to do in this business, a lot of it is giving back. A lot of it is treating the young guys and girls that are coming up, sometimes the exact opposite of the way I was treated. Old school mentality and all that. A lot of the bullying and the hazing and like all that stuff has has gone away, and I think I was a big catalyst to sort of help that instead of trying to be like a hardass about everything. I was the one inviting people like, ‘No, no, you come come here, sit here. If anybody messes with you, you let me know. We’ll handle it.’ Because at the end of the day, it’s a business and yes, it can be selfish and it can be individualized. But these are my teammates, you know? I want to see everybody succeed instead of just trying to make sure I succeed and I don’t care if everybody else fails.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit All The Smoke with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.