Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Punk referred to the company as a "very creatively stifling environment" and rattled down a number of offers that he had been offered that WWE had him turn down. Punk said that he'd be offered things and go to the office and be told he's not allowed, only to see John Cena do the exact same thing a week or so later. He said it's not about bashing Cena but it just shows the mentality.
Punk noted he was offered the lead in "12 Rounds 2" and Punk was excited about doing it to get a screen credit and get time off from house shows as he had tore his knee up wrestling John Cena towards the end of 2012. He and Cabana joked that Cabana ragged on him not to do the movie because the WWE movies weren't what Punk's first movie should be.
Punk said he agreed to do the film and "was signing all these papers", but when he saw the shooting dates, he warned Triple H that was the same time as the European tour. Triple H told him it wasn't the same time as the tour. Punk at the time was the WWE champion and felt that he needed as champion to make every date and lead the locker room. He noted during that time period, he did everything John Cena did in the same position, but the difference is the company doesn't advertise them like they do John because "John's the face of the company". Hunter said that it wasn't the European tour dates and Punk said he believed it was, so Triple H said he was going to get back to him.
The next day, without contacting Punk, WWE issued a press release that Randy Orton would be signing in the film. Punk called Triple H and asked why they couldn't have called him first and the got a story about how they couldn't change the shooting dates so they went with Orton as the second choice. Punk then asked why couldn't they just tell him first, but "that's how they are."
Cabana asked Punk, from the perspective of the angry fan that thinks Punk owes them everything. Punk said he loves his fans and the ones who wanted an explanation, he is giving it to them now. He said nothing that upset fans are going to hear or get is going to make them happy and that's fine. Punk admitted that a miniscule amount of the negativity "gets to him" but these are things that no one would ever say in public to him. He noted a fan saying, "I bought you your house" and he said it's a generational thing with Twitter and instant gratification, but "I bought my house, motherf***er so f*** you." He said he created CM Punk and WWE didn't. He said it was a pitstop and he won't be defined by a place he worked and pointed out that no one should be.
Cabana pointed out that for every dollar Punk made for himself, WWE made probably $14. Punk said that he knows what his worth is and WWE's job, in some ways, is undermining what he is truly worth so they can have some. He said they needed to profit so they aren't going to pay people what they are truly worth. He said half the people there are like he and Cabana and others who grew up loving pro wrestling and since WWE is the only game in town, they are all put into the position of having to put up with nonsense because they want to be in pro wrestling. Punk said, "Pro wrestling is the weirdest f***ing business in the world."
Punk said wrestling was awesome when it was a few of them driving to Ian Rotten shows for no money, because that was pro wrestling. He said when you put that under the "confines of a publicly traded company" where everyone says they are a "businessman" and Hunter is running around in a suit while he jokes he never wanted a real job because he'd have to wear a suit. He said it's the most bipolar company in the world in that WWE wants you to be your character 24/7 but if you are caught being mean to someone on Twitter, they punish you. "It's just f***ing weird."
Due to the holiday, I'll have more from the interview - likely on Friday, but if you want to listen to the entire interview on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, you can at www.ColtCabana.com or you can go to iTunes.com and subscribe to Cabana's podcast at this link to get the episode.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
