Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Punk said he bruised his patella in the Undertaker match and said he had to kill himself because that was the only way he guarantee he could get time off and had two months off. Cabana said that before when Punk was out, he wanted to go back but this time, Punk "loved his couch." Punk talked about rediscovering life and things he loved. He said he discovered "his bank account" and felt he didn't have to go do this anymore.
Punk said that he has a certain philosophy about the wrestling business that he doesn't think others guys have so they won't question the company. He said he doesn't think guys like Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose will question things. Punk said that doesn't understand why you are having guys who will be on every TV show losing to guys who are around once a year and creating a situation where people will only buy Wrestlemania, hurting his pay all year. The Network was coming in and that wasgoing to change his pay and he has to make everyone else look good - and all of those things make him look like sh** to the casual viewer.
Cabana asked if anyone else can go to Vince and say, "F*** you." Punk said he and He knows John Cena did it all the time. Maybe Randy Orton.
Punk said he took time off and made the decision to go to FCW to test his knee on his own. He only told Joey Mercury he was coming and magically, the day he was driving there, Vince called and told him he wanted Punk back in June at the Payback PPV. Punk turned it down as he wanted Summerslam. Vince said it would be against Chris Jericho and Punk said he's worked Jericho enough and turned it down. Vince laid out the storyline for Paul Heyman turning at Money in the Bank and Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk at Summerslam.
Punk prefaced what he said next by noting that that he knows the business is fake and that in most cases, it really doesn't matter who wins and loses, but, "put yourself in my shoes" and asked Vince who would be going over. Vince told him Brock would. Punk said, "Great. Who's going to be at work on Monday?" There was silence at the end of the phone. Vince said, "Well, you." Punk said, "Why?" Punk said that he is putting over Rock, Undertaker and Brock and they are going away while he watches his own stock dropping amongst the casual fans.
At that point, Punk said he told Vince, "I want to be that guy" who only works PPVs. Vince told Punk he needs him for house shows and Punk said, "Tell Brock to work house shows." Punk then noted that he and Brock get along great as a way to explain that this wasn't about any one other WWE wrestler personally but about the position WWE put him in.
Punk said he knew he will blow it up with Jericho in the ring and he's be energized working with Paul Heyman and then and Brock will steal the show at Summerslam. Punk admitted he agreed to the plans because he "had Wrestlemania main event on the brain" and would think if he blew the company away with his work in the ring, there was no way they could deny him and not realize it was his year to be in the main event.
Then, WWE asked him to work Ryback again and Punk turned it down, noting how Ryback had hurt him before. Vince told him that if you do it, Vince would owe him one [Note from Mike: That's three we are up to in this interview] and convinced Punk to do it. Punk said he would have rather worked with Curtis Axel to try and elevate him since, "Triple H did such a fine job of elevating him, even though he told Axel that he would." Punk then admitted, "This is the bitter part of me creeping out." Cabana said it was bitterness out of not seeing guys that deserve to be elevated actually get elevated.
Punk agrees to work Ryback and goes to him and says, "Clean slate" and says they will work together to show everyone they are both better then WWE thinks they are and turn what's a mid-card deal into a main event attraction. Ryback says he is on board and then in the first match, does a gorilla press slam through a table, misses the table and sends Punk down to the ground outside the ring. It, "tilts my f***ing pelvis" and messes him up for weeks while Punk's trying to compensate for his knees, one of which has been surgically repaired and the other he's been rehabbing. Punk claimed he went to Ryback and accused him of hurting Punk on purpose. Punk said that he told Ryback that he's either doing it on purpose or he's "dumb as f***." Ryback apologized and admitted he's "dumb as f***" at which point, Punk says that he's screwed and there's nothing he can do.
Punk then talked about all the injuries that were piling up and how he began to feel "worse then he's ever felt in his life." Punk said that he got his bell rung working Luke Harper at TV and "Doc was leaning on" Punk, asking him if he's got a concussion or can he go to Europe, as the company was immediately leaving for the November 2013 tour right after the tapings. Punk thought, "You f***ing pigs, I'll go to Europe", which Punk admits is on him and is his fault because he never should have gone and wrestled on the tour hurt.
During that tour, Punk noted he had no appetite, couldn't sleep, couldn't train properly and was either puking or dry-heaving after every match. The Doc tells him he is sick and "Z-Packs [antibiotics] me to death" to the point that Punk. "sh**s his pants" on Smackdown because of the meds and got asked to remove the post when he Tweeted the word "sh**." Punk said everyone was laughing about it when it happened, including Vince McMahon, but he got in trouble over the word sh**. So, Punk deleted the Tweet and blocked WWE's Twitter account.
Punk said he was so hurt, he was getting several MRIs a week and CT Scans and they couldn't figure out what's going on. Cabana said he was seeing Punk getting more and more miserable. Punk said Vince is saying that he will owe Punk one and at the same time, Punk is "seeing my checks shrinking." He said that they know he is hurt and they are having him make the dates. They are telling him to take it easy and they are cutting his pay.
Punk then said he doesn't like to talk about this, but he complained about his Wrestlemania 29 payoff. Punk said that he had the best match, but that doesn't mean sh** because anyone can have the best match. He said that what draws is what matters and he was in there with Undertaker and that match draws for the company. So, he shoudn't get any less than Taker, Rock, John Cena or Brock Lesnar but he knows (big emphasis on the word here) he got way "f***ing less" then all of those guys, who, in Punk's opinion, "couldn't lace my f***ing boots that night." He said that WWE needed to pay him equal and if any of them even got $1 more, it was wrong. Punk said that The Rock wasn't the draw - Wrestlemania was the draw and he deserved the same pay.
Punk said his first PPV as WWE champion was TLC and John Cena wasn't on it and they did more PPV buys than the year before. The PPV when Rock came back, which had an awful buyrate, was blamed on Miz and R-Truth. He said "It's bi-polar" and that WWE "twists and bend the narrative to support their story."
Punk said there are guys who bought into that narrative, including himself, who believed in ratings, PPV buys, etc. PPVs were dying so they launched the Network but no one could tell him what he was going to get paid. They didn't want to tell him, because they didn't know, which was "unacceptable."
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.
Continued on Page 7.
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
