Summary of CM Punk's AOW

CM Punk broke his silence and did not hold back on what happened with WWE and gave lots of details on what happened during the last few years leading up to January of this year. He also talked about the texts he got from Vince McMahon after he left the company and revealed that he was actually fired from the company on his wedding day. I’ve spit this up in several parts but here’s the whole recap of what was said.

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Punk said that Colt had the idea to do this and Punk thought it was a good idea. Punk said that he doesn’t want this to be a shoot interview even though he could have been paid handsomely. He said he will talk about the circumstances on his WWE departure. He said if people have questions then they can set up an email. He joked and said not to ask how big Batista’s d**k is. That’s been a running joke on Kayfabe Commentaries shoots that started at the Figure Four Wrestling/Wrestling Observer website. There will be a part 2 next week with Punk answering fan emails.

Punk started with his resigning with WWE a couple of years ago. He said that he kind of talked himself into giving it the “old college try.” He said that people believe these words about change and changing the place. He said that when he left in January that they changed everything and part of him thinks that some of the changes were done to spite him but he doesn’t want to sound like an old timer. He just wants to tell his story, how it unfolded, and what happened and wants to do it in a positive and non-bitter way. Punk said it’s ok to be bitter about stuff but you have to work through it. He said there’s still a few things that get him every now and then. He admitted that he wasn’t always the easiest and nicest guy to deal with and reiterated that this is not a “shoot” interview. Punk says he’s been the happiest he’s been in at least three years. He said that the thing that he thought he loved made him so miserable. He said he was miserable, he was unhappy, so “f*ck it.” He said it was a long time coming even though it was not an easy decision to make.

He said that there’s assumptions about him being banged up, not being the main event at WrestleMania, etc. He said there’s an element of truth in all of those things. The big thing that led to his decision was his health. He talked about one day being in Boston talking with Vince about resigning with the company and he tells him that since the “pipebomb” promo they’re getting more mainstream attention and all of these mainstream publications wanted to interview him. He said that there were legit companies that wanted to sponsor him and he had a pretty big money deal on the table. He said that maybe he could switch to fight shorts so he could put sponsors on his shorts and Vince said “nope, you can’t do that.” He said that wrestlers and sponsors for Raw and wrestlers would get mad. Then Brock Lesnar comes back and he can get sponsors on his gear. Brock had pre-existing sponsors as part of his deal. Punk thought the sponsorship could be a new means of income for him and the boys. Vince “blows smoke up my ass” when Punk pointed out that Brock was able to get sponsors after turning down Punk’s sponsorship idea. Punk said that he also outsold Cena on merchandise and nobody else did.

He also talked about Chael Sonnen fighting one day before the Royal Rumble. Vince said “oh my God Phil we can’t do that. That’s barbaric. Somebody is gonna die.” Punk said that he was distancing himself from such a “horrible, barbaric product.” Vince then said “did you know that they’ll have women fight soon?” Punk told him him “yes, and it’ll be the hottest f*cking thing.” Punk was basically told no by Vince again. Then the next week Triple H walks Floyd Mayweather to the ring.

He said that WWE is a creatively, toxic, stifling environment. He said he’s been offered TV shows, movies, stunt work, and other things. Not just him but other guys too. He said that he was offered things and then he’s told that he can’t do it and then 2 weeks later John Cena is doing it. He said about 2 years ago Triple H says to Punk that WWE Studios wants him in a movie. Punk said that “they’re lame as f*ck” but he was cool with it because he would get house shows off and he would get a movie credit. It was supposed to be 12 Rounds 2 and he was supposed to be an EMT. He agrees to do it and he’s signing the papers and Punk tells Triple H that it’s the European tour. Punk was totally fine with missing the European tour but he was champion and wanted to make sure that it was ok. Punk says that they don’t advertise other wrestlers doing Make-A-Wish and Cena is the poster boy. Triple H tells him it’s not the European tour even though Punk says yes it is. Then the next day it’s announced on the internet that Randy Orton would be starring in 12 Rounds 2. Punk told Triple H that they could at least called him to let him know instead of having to find out online.

Colt played devils advocate and asked some of the things that fans ask on twitter when fans act like Punk owes them something. Punk says he loves his fans and he’s giving them an explanation. Punk says that nothing he does or say will make them all happy. Punk says that there’s so much stuff online that only a minuscule amount bugs him and it gets tiresome and people that say stuff to him wouldn’t say it to his face. He thinks that the entitlement from some fans is a generational thing. He said that nobody made him who he is, including WWE. “WWE was a fcking pit stop and I would not be defined by what I do for a living.” Colt said that for every dollar he made, WWE made 14. Punk said probably a lot more than that. He said that WWE’s job is to undermine what everyone’s worth. If you’re worth 8 million then they’ll pay you less because they need to profit. He said people eat a lot of shit because it’s their dream job and they don’t want to get fired. He said wrestling is the “weirdest fcking business in the world.” He said it’s the most bipolar business in the world because they want you to be this character 24/7 but if you are being mean on twitter to somebody then they will admonish you. He said that WWE should be a happy place to work but they use it as a “bizarre mindf*ck.” He said that people say well he made millions. Punk says yea he should have made 10 million.

Punk said that he was asking for months about the WWE Network. He said that WrestleMania was $70 in HD but now it’s $9.99 on the network. Punk would say “we haven’t figured that out yet.” Punk said that they should have figured that out before the pay-per-view. He said if you speak up then they take you off of shows and now you’re not making any money. He says WWE doesn’t do anything to protect the wrestlers, they do things to protect themselves. He said they do all of the concussion PR for the public, not the boys. He said the NFL is getting “fu*ked in the ass” because of lawsuits and Vince doesn’t want to do that so that’s why they do all this stuff on PR. He said that he took a concussion test after the Rumble this year and passed with flying colors even though he knew he had a concussion. He said that if you don’t work then you get punished. He said he never had a break. He was beat up and needed knee surgery. He told Vince that he needed his knee fixed and he’d do it after he lost to The Rock. He tried to convince them that dropping it to The Rock was not the right thing to do. He said that he pitched keeping the title and defending it against The Undertaker, among other scenarios. He said he remembers being excited being on a European tour that his elbow locked up on a 45 degree angle on a bus and not being able to move it much. He was excited because he realized he would get some surgery which means time off. He got surgery on a Wednesday or a Thursday and then Vince called him on a Friday. Punk said he would be rehabbing but Vince said they could get him back on TV to do promos. Punk said he wanted to show them that he was the best at his job even with his arm in a sling.

So, he’s scared about having a blood clot and dying because that’s what happened with Chris Candido. So he’s supposed to just cut a promo and Michael Hayes comes up to him and tells him he’s working. Hayes told him he was cleared even though Punk wasn’t cleared by the doctor in Birmingham. Then some Dr. Aman told the office that he was cleared.

He talked about WWE’s Nexus angle. He had just gotten laser eye surgery but he couldn’t let the Nexus guys know in advance because the company tried to hide the Nexus angle from him and Luke Gallows. He said that when they were beating him up some “assh*le” was sticking his finger in Punk’s eye. Luke Gallows asked Punk what they should do. Punk said to just started smacking people. Gallows started beating up Ryan Reeves (Ryback).