Curtis Axel Defends CM Punk, Says He ‘Gets a Bad Rap’

Curtis Axel believes that CM Punk gets too much flak, noting that the controversial WWE star has always been good to him. Axel appeared on Monte and The Pharaoh and during the conversation he talked about his relationship with Punk, who has his share of past conflicts including (of course) his highly-publicized issues with AEW that led to his exit from the company and return to WWE.

“He does get a bad rap,” Axel said (per Fightful). “He helped me out a lot. I’m friends with him. We’ve been boys. We’ve had battles, bad battles, all over the world. He’s been nothing but a help for me. I know where people can say he has a bad reputation because of his attitude, but you kind of have to have that with this industry. You have to have that ‘don’t give a hell about whatever’ and you just go and do you.”

He continued, “If you don’t have self-confidence and ‘I’m better than you,’ then you’re going to fail. Punk has always had that. I have nothing but respect for him. He’s helped me. I would love to fight him again. We’ve had some battles. We’re both Heyman guys.”

Punk is currently in the middle of a feud with Seth Rollins on WWE TV.