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Whether there's an age where a talent should be done:
"I used to say, I used to say, I used to say 40, but then...I'm just at my absolute best now, and I don't know. No, I don't have a number anymore, but I definitely is very important. I know this is not everyone's favorite, but I'm definitely really of the thought that I don't want my daughter to be, 10 years old and me and be on the road full time as I am now. When we get to that every age is important, but when you get to those memory making years I want to have provided enough for the family just to call it, and that doesn't mean call it in a sense that I wouldn't be wrestling, but maybe I'd be wrestling at a different schedule. But right now, it's not a secret. I did sign a new deal recently. It's still all being ironed out, but we're done with it, and that would put me in a great spot by the end of it."
CM Punk's WWE return:
"I hope these guys don't get mad at me for sharing this. No one gets mad. No one's watching either. Nick and Hunter both told me, got my opinion, all this, and so I was ready going into the War Games in Chicago there in Allstate, which was amazing. So we had the minimalist set and just people on top of people, and for him to come out and return in the fashion, I was really happy for him.
Whether he was shocked by the return:
"Nah, because I feel like I feel like both Nick and Hunter really have their finger on the pulse. So even if there was some bad business in the past or whatever, like I mentioned the things that I had said, Nick, for me, I know he looked at me and explained to WWE management at the time, Hey, here's what Cody is, and here's what he can do for us. I think he did the same and I, looking at it from my perspective of WWE in this renaissance era, as hot as it's ever been, why wouldn't we want CM Punk, right? I got to share the Royal Rumble and have that moment with CM Punk, somebody who's one of the most important superstars of my generation. I got to throw him out of the Rumble, just, I think he's a great addition to the locker room. I feel terrible that he tore his tricep. I look forward to, he's got a whole run ahead of him. And he's just been wonderful since he came back."
Punk's comments on AEW:
"That's his assessment. It is not my assessment. It's always important for me to remind people that I am so proud. Of what me, Matt, Nick, Kenny, Tony, Bernie, Brandy and Dana and Chris and I name all these people because I was in those meetings as much as the internet will try to spin a narrative one way. If one of those people had not been at that startup level, the company would not have happened, and I am so proud of what was created. I am so insanely proud. Of what it does for the industry overall for wrestlers and their well-being and their ability to feed their families. I have an unbelievable love for so many people in that locker room, including the Bucks, including Kenny, who were bonded forever over this thing that we did. So it's not my assessment. In my time there, the infrastructure was just being built up, we were trying new things and doing things as a startup company, a big time startup company, but a startup company and I wish them nothing but the best."
Whether he could see the Punk-Elite issues coming:
"I don't think I foresaw any of the issues. I did predict, it was unrelated to those guys, but I do remember predicting that there was going to be certain guys who had been there who wanted to wave the banner and, hey, you've not been here, and then brand new guys, because you always need fresh blood, and like Punk coming back to WWE, it's a great call, but I think those always would mesh. I just think what happened there is a ton of misunderstanding, a ton of miscommunication. You will see on Indies and wrestlers that aren't properly trained. I'm not talking about bullying etiquette or anything like that, but you do need to have a little old school in you to know the collaborativeness of what this is, and I just think they were ships in the night. I know I was Switzerland the last time you asked me. I love Matt, Nick, and Kenny. And I love CM Punk. I don't know how, but I do. I am just happy for everyone involved. And yeah, I just think it was a ships in the night thing. I wasn't there though."
Whether he considered a return to AEW or going elsewhere before signing his latest WWE deal:
"No, and it's not in any way a negative, towards them. I just know I didn't win the title at Wrestlemania 39 but I was in the spot i'd always dreamed of, and I know how lucky I am to be in the spot when I see a poster and there I am front and center amongst some other unbelievably talented people. When I see the 2K24 cover, when I see the responsibility, they didn't hand me the exact ball and say, Hey, you're the quarterback, but they certainly gave me a lot of responsibility. That being Nick, that being Hunter...I feel that It would have been just against my being because I was slotted there. You helped put me there and now I'm making something of it and I'm growing it beyond what you thought it could be. I wanted to keep doing that for them. So it just didn't cross my mind, not in a negative towards any other places. I just, this is what i've enjoyed doing. I think as a wrestler you always try to pretend you're interested like but no."
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