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CM Punk appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour while Mike and I were recording our show. We started hearing from people how great Punk’s appearance was so I decided to recap/blog the appearance. It won’t be a complete recap since I encourage you all to go and watch but I will give you the gist and some commentary. I will break it up in parts since he is on for two hours. I will mark commentary when I make it.
About his triceps tear, Punk said that he feels really good, probably better than he should have. He said that part of him thinks he could have worked Mania but WWE’s doctors are protecting him from himself, which he called “a welcome change”. He said that when he tore his left triceps it didn’t hurt at all but this one was agonizing. He said he knew right away that he tore his triceps so he powered through. He knew it was his call to make. Helwani asked if an audible was called when he got hurt and he said no, but loved that people think that.
Commentary: He’s a tough SOB, that’s for sure. Also nice to see him clear up the fake news around the audible. I also wonder if he would have ever come back if Vince wasn’t gone since the commentary about medical was pointed.
He was asked when the ball started for his WWE return. He said that the real gist of it started around Thanksgiving week. He said that Nick Khan called him before Thanksgiving. Khan said he would love to come back for Rumble but he probably had a no-compete. Punk said he had no non-compete at all. Khan was surprised. Punk said he wanted to talk to HHH first and noted that everyone calls H “Paul” now. He said once he talked to HHH, it started rolling. He said HHH wanted to do FaceTime so he could see him. He said that they had a good talk and buried the hatchet and things moved quickly from there. He said that it was important for him to know where they both wanted his character to go. He mentioned seeing HHH at the WWE show in May. Punk said he showed up unannounced at the show and talked with HHH before Vince McMahon had him tossed up.
He talked about how he met Jason Jordan on a flight and they talked. He met Liv Morgan on the plane and she was great. She helped him find his lost ear buds. He then said he got a call from Bayley and she said he should come visit at the May show in Chicago (he noted that he just threw her under the bus). He was asked how he felt being at the WWE show. He said that he went to visit people. He was the old timer just stopping by to say hi. He said the people that he saw were nice and kind. He expected to be tossed out. He said he didn’t know if Vince was even there.
Commentary: I bet Bayley doesn’t mind at all that he tossed her under the bus.
He was asked if anyone from AEW was mad he was there. He said yes and he said that he thinks that the word “betrayed” was used. He said that he (Tony Khan) lets people be on WWE TV, but he’s made Punk went to visit friends.
Commentary: It seemed that he was referring to Tony Khan but he didn’t say him by name.
He said that he signed his WWE contract right before he went to Gorilla at the Survivor Series. He was asked how many people knew he would be there. She said that you wouldn’t need more than two hands to count. Ariel mentioned that Becky said that her husband didn’t know and was not happy when he showed up.
He said before he even spoke to WWE, he saw the clues that WWE was leaving on TV but he didn’t talk to them at that point. He said that his wife, HHH, Nick Khan and lawyers knew about it. He texted family on the way to the building and said he would fill them all in tomorrow.
He said he wasn’t desperate for a job but the booker in his head was interested in coming back and it has been a dream going back. He talked a lot about how great going back was and the reaction from the fans was off the hook.
He said it was a 100 percent moment that he didn’t want to end. He said that no matter what people think of him, he has made some great moments. Just when he thinks he can’t squeak out another one, he does. He said he came back in his favorite building and he couldn’t even hear his music, people were so loud. He said it was pure magic.
He said that when to the back everyone was great to him and welcoming. He said that everyone was fired up for him when he went into the back. He said he loves that energy and loves to feel it when it’s not for him, he likes to stand back and watch when it happens. He said it was “100 percent” a moment that he didn’t want to end.
He was asked if WWE today is the same place he left. He said it’s not. He said he tries to be humble but there are a lot of people in the business because his work inspired him, the same way he wouldn’t have become who he was if it weren’t for Bret Hart and Roddy Piper. He said that someone told him that they were super glad he’s back so that he can enjoy the culture that he helped created. He said that he sees the changes. He said that he doesn’t want to give away too much with pulling the curtain back. He said it’s almost like he wants people to believe the lies and the bullshit about him.
Commentary: He’s looking straight at you Uncle Dave and you AEW locker room hatchet men and women.
He went on to say that the BS and lies helps him make more money. But if you are stupid enough to believe the lies, leave him alone. He said that the locker room is…..friendlier. He said that to understand that you have to realized that when he first came there it was cutthroat, dog eat dog. People thought he didn’t belong but there he was working the top guys. He said now it’s more laid back, a relaxed atmosphere.
He was asked if he saw Vince at all in the last few months. He said he saw him at the Towers. He then went on to say that Nick Khan said if they couldn’t get it done by Survivor, it would be The Rumble. Punk said no, he wanted it to be at Survivor.
He said that they were flying by the seat of their pants and he ended up going on the private plane to NXT. He said that they ended up back at the Tower and he was on the phone with Nick Khan and someone said he had to get off the phone because Vince was coming in. He said Vince gave him a big hug and said welcome home. He said let’s connect after I work out. That was the last time he saw him. Helwani said, “You didn’t connect?” Punk said no, I think some stuff came up.
Commentary: Oh yes, some stuff definitely came up.
That was the only conversation he had with Vince. He was asked how he feels about Vince’s situation. He said that there is no positivity there. He didn’t read the whole lawsuit but read the text messages and knew it was so f’d up. He said his first thought was he was kind of shocked at how dumb Vince was to write that stuff down and leave a record. He said it doesn’t matter what he thinks about Vince, it all takes a backseat to the victims and how they survive. That is his main concern.
He was asked if the business is better without Vince. He said how do you say anything but yes. Of course it is. He was asked if he had any idea that any of Vince’s alleged behavior was happening. He said no. He brought up the Chris Benoit situation, where he murdered his family. He said the week prior he traveled with him and he showed his son drawing X’s on his hands. Of course he said screw Benoit after that be he had no idea at the time. He said that he was never in a room with Vince when he was shitting on someone or assaulting them so of course he didn’t know. He said Vince wasn’t like Caligula in Rome. But like with Benoit, after the fact you can kind of say, yeah I can see that. He said it’s very hard to reconcile since Vince played father figure to so many people. Punk never wanted that from him. He said it’s wild, sad and Vince ruined his life ruining other people’s lives.
Commentary: That stated it perfectly. 100 percent perfectly.
Helwani asked him what the plan was for Punk at WrestleMania. He said it changed a lot. He said when he came back he told HHH he wasn’t there to steal anyone’s spot. He said that the booker in his head told him you can’t be main event talent unless you work with main event talent and in those spots. He wants to see if he can be that guy, he knows he can be that guy. He said that he thinks the plan was to be Seth defending his Title against him. He said he believes it would have been the night one main event.
Would he have happy working against Seth? Yes, there was a story there. He was content with that spot. Anyone would want to wrestle Roman, he’s the guy. But he could sink his teeth into working on Seth.
He was asked about his relationship with Roman. He said, “It’s all business baby”. He said that he’s here to make money. And the irony is the people you make money with tend to be your friends. He is happy about Paul Heyman going into the Hall of Fame. He will be there.
About the Rock, he’s happy he’s back. He said that the TV audience is bigger than the internet. Rock coming back is huge because it puts eyeballs on everyone. He said he used his experience with Rock years ago to move up.
He said he is usually against doing the Main Event at Mania two years in a row but this so great who can say it’s wrong. He was asked about whether Cody should have won last year. He said he could fantasy book Cody winning last year but look at the business that they are doing.
Commentary: That says it all. The business grew, they made the right call.
About Rock breaking rules? He said of course he does, and Punk said he does too. He said that if a lower card talent is going to do what they do, they had better be as good at it as Rock and he are.
And now, it’s All In Wembley time. You arrived and…..there’s no one there to pick him up! He took the Tube. He made an adventure of it. But he said it was completely irresponsible of AEW to leave him there. He said people found out because they were on the tube with him.
Where was he when Jack Perry made his idiotic “real glass” comment and did he feel it was directed at him. He was in his locker room and he did indeed feel that it was. Why? Punk said that there is a lot of talk about NDAs. He said that there is a difference between not being able to talk about something and not wanting to. He said that he didn’t want to litigate this again but….He said Tony’s big idea was to do a separate show, we will separate everyone. Punk said that will never work.
Commentary: Of course Punk is right. Why? Because all of the talent would be at shows like this. Once again, Tony Khan’s inability to be an actual manager rears its clueless head. I have a feeling this is going to a place that Tony will not like.
Punk said just let me go, this won’t work. “These guys don’t want me here.” This place isn’t about making money and what you sold me on. Tony said no I can’t let you go. He said at Collision Tony Schiavone came up to him and said that Jack Perry was at the show being disruptive and cursing people out. Punk said Perry wasn’t even supposed to be there and told Tony S. I am not supposed to interact with that group and you don’t want me involved. He said Tony S. begged him so he went with him. He said that a lot of people wanted to work part time and he said fine, not on his show. He said that Perry wanted to smash his rental car window with a pipe so he could take time off. He said to Perry that a bunch of other people told him he couldn’t do it and he cussed them out, so now Punk was there to tell him no (since it was his show). He said if you want to act that way, we don’t do that here, go to Wednesday. Perry said he thought it would cool to do. Punk said maybe so but it was stupid to do that to a rental car. It could keep the companies from renting to wrestlers. He said he wasn’t being a boss, he just said it was a dumb idea. He said Perry wanted to do it so that he wouldn’t have to fly to Canada. He said the travel sucked for everyone. He said the idea was to have two shows was to keep the sides separated. He said he told Perry it was wrong to curse at the doctor, who looked out for Perry by saying real glass could fly into his eyes.
Commentary: Just when I think Jungle Jackoff can’t be a bigger slug, he proves me wrong.
He said politely we don’t do that here. This is a different show. If you want to do that, go to Wednesdays.
Commentary: Punk is saying all of this on the record. The Lollipop Guild calls their crusty old Uncle to get out the tainted slant. That says it all to me about who has integrity and who doesn’t.
He said how Perry reacted completely falls in line with “who his friends are”. And of course, then it festered because again, no one in charge did anything about it (that’s me, Dave, looking at you Tony Khan).
He was then asked what happened after Perry made the “Real Glass” comment on PPV. Punk said that he went to Tony Khan and he said please handle that. Please. He said Khan asked him what he should do. Punk said he told him just be the boss. He said he told Khan he was tired of this shit. He told him separate shows wouldn’t work and now were are all here and this happens. He said he told Khan please handle it because if you don’t you won’t like the way that I handle it.
Helwani asked, “Did he handle it?” Punk said, “No. No.” Helwani said so you did? Punk said yes. He asked what happened.
Punk said Jack came back from his match. He said he was sitting there. Punk said he had people with him, he won’t say who they are since they are still there and doesn’t want to be punished by association. He said that he went up to Perry and asked why he kept doing internet shit on TV. He said that Perry said he if he has a problem do something about it. He said that he told Perry, “Come on man, I’d f’n kill you.” Punk said he thought he was doing a responsible thing. He didn’t punch anyone, he just choked somebody a little bit. The Samoa Joe said enough and that was it.
He then said he turned to Tony and said, “This place is a f’n joke man. You’re a clown. I quit.” He said that he went to his room and Joe and Jerry Lynn came to him and said let’s do the match. He said he was fired up then and he’s fired up now and he will probably regret even talking about it. But he said that’s what happened.
Commentary: If nothing more than that happened does that mean Tony Khan was, as he said, scared for his life because he thought he lost a friend? Seriously, Tony Khan standing there, watching this stuff happen and doing nothing to fix it is exactly what is wrong with AEW. Punk is right, this isn’t being run like a real business. It’s a rich kid’s toy.
Punk said he went out and did the match because it was the professional thing to do. He said that he knew that was his last match. He was asked after what happened when he went to the back. He said he was told that Jack was sent home. He asked if he had to leave. He was told no. He said that a security guy named Sam later came up to him and asked it would be easier for him if he left and was basically told yet, so he left and went back to his hotel.
Helwani said that Khan said that Punk was fired with cause. Punk said he quit. Did he talk to Khan after the aforementioned conversation? Punk said no!
Commentary: Helwani asked about poor crybaby Tony going on TV and saying he was scared for his life. Sorry, I can’t take Tony seriously at all.
Punk made a great face, as if to say what a load of horseshit that is. He was asked what he thought when he saw what Tony said on TV. Punk said he couldn’t tell what Tony was feeling or thinking but he didn’t do anything to make Tony fear for his life. But, he said, he is who he is. He was asked if he felt he was being slandered by that and he said of course. Helwani said that when he first heard Khan say it, his thought was did Punk attack Tony?
Commentary: For the record, I said the moment that Khan made that ridiculous statement that he was opening himself up. I hope Punk sued him for it.
Punk felt there was an effort there to slander Punk and attack his character. He referred to the past stuff that happened when AEW wrestlers went to hack reporters to spread lies about Punk.
He was asked what it was like to work for Tony. He said Tony is a nice guy, but he’s not a boss. Him being a nice guy is a detriment to him and his company. Punk said that he thought he was brought in to sell tickets, merchandise and PPVs, and he did that, but some people didn’t like that.
Commentary: And they got on their cell and called their Uncle with lies early and often.
Punk was asked if he ever thinks he is 45 and too old for this shit. YES, did you see the All Out presser?
He was asked he thought things were going early on. Good he thought. Then Adam Page shot on him on live TV, a fact that the hack reporters out there NEVER mention when they blame everything that happened on Punk. Punk said that it wasn’t what Page said that was the issue. It was that if you sit down with a wrestler and you agree on what will be said, and then you double cross him, he was thinking why would you do this? You are shitting on me and the business. Why would you do this? He said he asked Page afterward why he did it and Page said that it was because he thought that he got one of his friends who wasn’t fired, fired.
Commentary: Obviously this is Colt Cabana, which again HACK journalists blatantly lied about and said Punk did something that he not only never did, but actually never happened. Way to go Uncle!
Again, Punk asked it to be fixed and it wasn’t. He said he gives everyone respect until they are told otherwise. He did nothing to any of the Guild, but he would be professional with him, but they wouldn’t.
He was asked if he knew he would go off at the post match scrum. He said that, in essence, when he went to the presser and saw reporters that played into the lies being spread about him, who he knew were friends with the Page/Bucks/Omega group, it was high school drama bullshit. He got there and saw the goof reporters and he lost it. He did say it was a top three CM Punk promo.
He asked about Tony being uncomfortable next to him at the press conference. Punk said that it was nothing he had never told Tony before. Ariel said he probably didn’t think it would come out there. Punk said he “shoulda handled it.” He was asked what happened afterward and he basically said that he can’t, there’s an NDA. He was asked if he could anything. He said he didn’t have to sign an NDA for anything that he did wrong. He said he has nothing to hide. He did say he regretted it. He doesn’t like the scrums and anyone with a Twitter can pretend to be a reporter. He doesn’t care if people believe the lies because he makes money off of it. But it’s lies and bullshit.
He was asked why there was an NDA for this and he said you would have to ask Tony. Ariel said that he did and Tony didn’t answer. Punk said that he didn’t want to talk about it, but he wasn’t going to no sell him like Tony did.
He can’t comment on when he tore his triceps. Nope.
He was asked if he was close to being let go. He said that he didn’t talk to anyone in AEW for six months. He even booked his surgery on his own. He booked his own PT. No one from AEW helped him. He wondered if that is how they treat the Jaguars players. He said that it’s night and day how great WWE has been with this injury compared to it.
He said that he only came back because he knew Khan wouldn’t let him go. He has friends there. He felt that he could maybe have some fun with Collision. He was asked if he could have just gotten paid to stay home and he said maybe he could have. He was asked if that he thought there was any chance keeping people separated would work and he said no, that’s not how you handle business. He said you need to address things.
He was asked about the One Bill Phil promo. You should watch his answer. It shows how he gets it.
He was asked if there was anything in AEW he was proud of. He said he made a lot of great friends there. He got to work with Sting, which was cool. He said that the positives outweigh the negatives. He thought he was coming in to help, if he could teach something, great. He said that he was brought in for another reason. AEW is not about selling tickets, making money, selling tickets. Ariel asked what it was about. He said he didn’t know, maybe having good matches. He made a point of saying what works on the indies won’t sell on a national level. It will work in bits and pieces but not as a whole show and he thinks that is being proven now.
He was asked about working with MJF, he said that he did. He said all of the talent is there. But the intangibles…..
He said he does wish everyone there well. He thinks MJF is great. He thinks where he isn’t great is when he caters to that small, internet audience. But if that’s their audience, go for it.
He was asked about AEW’s future. It will always be around as long as Tony wants to put money in it. Ariel asked if it will ever be successful. Punk said it all depends on how you definite successful. He said that he thinks too many people are stuck in the indy mindset. He said if you are more interested in “some goof” saying you had a five star match even though the building is a quarter full, we are not in the same business.
Commentary: There are two Daves in wrestling reporting. This Dave agrees with Punk. The other? He’s your five star guy,
Punk said that he was sold on AEW being an alternative to WWE. He likes that talent has the option. He said when you’re there……he thinks guaranteed money helps ruin it. If you have to draw to earn, then you have to adjust. When he was running Collision, that is how he approached it.
Helwani said that they talked a lot while he was out he would never come back. He was surprised that he did. So was Punk. Does he regret coming back? NO! He has made a lot of friends. He thinks he may have helped someone on the way. He has a lot of knowledge and has learned from great minds. He said he never forces anything on anyone but he was always glad to help people. He doesn’t regret coming back because he gets to learn from people like HHH, Shawn Michaels, etc. He said his body won’t last longer than his brain and he wants to give back.
He said that there was a time in the past where he talked about returning but it didn’t happen. He said that Nick Khan has always been interested in getting him back. If it wasn’t for Nick Khan he doesn’t think he would have come back. He mentioned issues with HHH in the past and said that it’s all water under the bridge. He said that they have had great conversations and he is part of the team. He said his role may grow in the future but he’s happy now. He could be producer down the road but he still thinks he has a lot left in the tank.
He wanted to reiterate that he and a lot of the AEW Guys, yes The Elite was namechecked, have a different view of what the business it. He made mention of the childish hack reporter lie the “everyone hated” Punk when they didn’t.
Did he feel The Elite never wanted him there, from the jump? Yes, he does. The interactions and the way things were handled told him that. Did he have any of those fears coming back to WWE? He said that when he left WWE he was embroiled in the lawsuit so he stopped talking to people to make sure nothing would get back to WWE. He was asked how he got over all of it. He said what I always say, “I woke up this morning.” Amen. He went on to talk about how he was what he was and has evolved into what he is today.
Will he and Colt Cabana ever be friendly again. No. The feeling is still there because of what happened in the past.
What if he saw Tony Khan? Hi Tony. How are you.
Will his wife ever return? He doesn’t think so.
As for Mania, he is doing the kickoff show both days. He is psyched to do it. Plus the Seth-Drew match. He can do a lot of different things and he thinks that makes him useful. Ariel agrees.
He was asked if it will bother him if never headlines WrestleMania. Nope, not now. He is older now. He is asked about why he doesn’t die his beard. He said he earned it. He said you can tell Vince is gone because he would never be allowed on TV like that. He likes it.
He said was dark when he tore his triceps this time but he’s over it now. He was asked when he thinks he will be back. He thinks it’s will be a business decision. But, he is recovering really well. Plus he has something to come back for, unlike when he tore the other in AEW.
He never thought for a second that he would ever come back and be so happy, but here he is. He has matured. Instead of causing the wave, he’s riding them and enjoying it.
I have no idea how long it went but it was great.
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