CM Punk Reflects On How the Business Is ‘Completely Different’ His Last WWE Run

CM Punk loves how much the business has changed since the last time he was in WWE, explaining how much better it is for the talent. The World Heavyweight Champion spoke with All That Smoke for a lengthy interview and during the conversation, he was asked about how much things have changed since he famously and contentiously left the company in 2014.

Punk spoke about how the constant schedule back then was something he loved, but noted he was young and didn’t have a family. He said that now it’s much easier for talent to balance work and home life, citing Cody Rhodes as someone who can do it. You can see the highlights below:

On the Business Having Changed In the Last 10 Years:

“Yeah I mean, the business is completely different. The wrestling business as a whole, I think, has changed. WWE has changed. Again, we were talking a little bit about load management. When I was running 10 years, I didn’t take a break. I got called up to the main roster, and I was fortunate because I was on everything. And I mean everything. Every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. We used to tape Smackdown on Tuesdays. So right after Raw, you just roll to the next town. It would tape to air on Friday. I mean, that’s five days a week. So I’m flying home Wednesday morning. I have maybe Thursday, and then Friday morning I’m right back out. I did that 10 years. And then that’s one overseas tour a month, that’s two week European tours a year. That’s, I don’t know how many different pay-per-views in different countries.

“But it was it was so great because I was young and I was not married and I did not have kids. I had no responsibility. Like, I bought a house that was just ‘lock it and leave it,’ and I locked it and I left it. I lived out of a suitcase. I lived like a pirate and it was the greatest thing for me. But I always would look at the people who had husbands or wives as kids at home and I saw how hard it was.”

On How That’s Changed:

“That’s the best thing about the business is how different it is. A guy like Cody can balance it well. Where Cody is everywhere, and he’s the face of the company and he’s on everything. And he feels he’s not neglecting his daughters and his wife, which is paramount. Like, that should be 100% number one. A lot of us aren’t felonious old ’70s and ’80s wrestlers who, we just want to try to get away from home. We like being home, right?”

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.