Fuego Del Sol Says Talent Isn’t Pressured To Pick Sides Over CM Punk’s Heat

In a recent Haus of Wrestling appearance, Fuego Del Sol explained that while fans might choose sides on the divide between CM Punk and The Elite, he hasn’t seen the same sort of behavior behind the scenes (via Fightful). According to Del Fuego, he experienced positive interactions with both Punk and The Young Bucks after the infamous dustup at All Out without either camp demanding he pick a team to be loyal to. You can find a few highlights and listen to the full podcast episode below.

On the general atmosphere he’s witnessed backstage: “There’s a whole thing online where you have to pick a side between CM Punk and The Elite, that’s not how it is in the back. You have really close friends of The Elite that are like, ‘Hey, I’m with you guys, I’m riding with you guys.’ There’s really close friends of Punk that are going to side with Punk. I haven’t revealed this to anybody, CM Punk hurt his foot last year. I hurt my foot in February, Punk messaged me multiple times a week checking on me. Regardless of anyone wants to say about him, I only go off of interactions that I’ve had with people and he checked on me constantly, and I’m forever grateful for that. If I ever had any questions before a show, Punk was always there, especially during his first run. I haven’t really been there much since Punk has come back, I don’t know how he’s been, I’m not gonna speak for anyone else’s opinion on him. However, I have to turn around and say the Bucks have been phenomenal to me. From day one, they’ve treated me like a brother, a wrestler, one of the boys. They never treated me like an extra, they never acted like they were above me because they were EVPs, they’ve checked on me since I’ve got hurt and since I’ve got released, I’ve got messages from both Matt and Nick saying, ‘We had no clue, we’re so sorry. We wish the best for you.’ I’ve had great interactions with everyone, more so the Bucks and Punk than Kenny, but Kenny does a lot of stuff with the female division. But anytime I had questions about going to Japan or about my matches, he was incredibly nice. There’s a lot of talk and heat about the butting heads at the top, but a lot of our top guys really want the best for the industry.”

On his own priorities in the industry: “The first match I had with HOOK for [his] debut [match], I come to the back after I lose and Punk immediately comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, I know you’re on the losing end of this, but we’re trying to make a star and you did everything in your power to make that kid tonight and I appreciate you for that.’ It’s hard for me to hate a guy, I wasn’t there in Chicago on All Out night, I don’t know what happened, and I refuse to speculate and I refuse to ask my friends on each side what happened because that’s all about bullshit in the back. I’m worried about growing the wrestling business, being a better wrestler every day. I think a lot of wrestlers get caught up in bullshit and I refuse to in that sense.”