Despite walking out of the WWE in January 2014, CM Punk is still one of the most popular
wrestlers in the world, with chants of his name still ringing through arenas when WWE
fans run out of things to say.
Since leaving, Punk has competed in the UFC, losing convincingly to Mickey Gall, and has
consistently stated he’ll never return to his former pro wrestling employer.
So why exactly is there such bitterness between Punk and the company he spent almost 9 years
with?
I’m Luke Owen, and here is the real reason CM Punk left WWE.
In 2005, CM Punk was renowned as one of the most gifted young wrestlers in the world,
holding the Ring of Honor Championship at just 26 years of age.
The hype around punk lead to him being signed to one of WWE’s developmental promotions,
Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2005.
Punk gradually built a name for himself in WWE as a star of the future, and after a spell
on ECW and as the brand’s champion, Punk cemented his role on the main roster.
Unfortunately for Punk and WWE however, cracks began appearing pretty quickly.
Despite booking him to win the Money in the Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania 24, and five
separate runs with the company’s top title, the relationship between Punk and WWE became
increasingly hostile as time went on.
During an infamous podcast on Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast in November
2014, ten months after he walked out the company, Punk spoke out about the reasons behind his
departure for the first time.
He described WWE as a “creatively stifling, toxic environment”, and described how many
stars felt trapped by a team of writers and backroom staff that didn’t allow for superstar
input.
Punk referenced several occasions where he felt WWE exhibited a total lack of transparency,
for example asking him to star in a film, before changing their mind to Randy Orton
without telling him.
His frustrations only increased as time went on, as Punk felt his work in the company should
have been rewarded with a main event spot at Wrestlemania.
This spot however was taken by other stars time and time again.
This Wrestlemania related anger peaked before Wrestlemania 29, a show CM Punk and many fans
felt he should be headlining, but was instead main evented by John Cena vs The Rock II,
a match which 12 months beforehand had been advertised as “once in a lifetime”.
“I kept asking what was going on for 'Mania and Vince kept very disappointingly telling
me that it was going to be the rematch between Cena and Rock.”
Punk was booked to lose against The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
This was almost the final straw for him, saying that losing to part-timers was incredibly
damaging and short-sighted booking.
Apparently when he was told he would be losing to the three aforementioned men, Vince McMahon
explained that it would help him become “the hottest heel in the world”, to which Punk
replied: “explain to me how losing to a 45-year-old man that wrestles once a year
is going to make me the hottest heel in the world?
No disrespect.
Explain to me how that works.
Because I'm the one that's still going to be here the next day, you know?
Rock beats me, Rock leaves.
Undertaker beats me, Undertaker leaves.”
And it wasn’t just his creative frustrations that caused him to quit the company.
Punk revealed his own battle with injuries made him “miserable”.
“All the time, it made me miserable.
I guess the black and the white of it, when you just boil it all down, the essence of
it, was I was miserable.”
He mentioned how he often felt as though he was made to fight through injury, and that
it got to a point where he hated the wrestling business.
"I was sick and hurt, and sick and tired, and burnt out, and I walked.”
Punk’s accusations against WWE Dr Chris Amann for clearing him to wrestle despite
being injured and for allegedly misdiagnosing a staph infection lead to Amann filing a lawsuit
against Punk for $1 million in damages.
Punk’s final appearance for WWE came during the 2014 Royal Rumble, a match he was booked
to stay in for far longer than he did.
During a spot with Kofi Kingston, Punk suffered a concussion, and WWE doctors took the decision
for Punk to be eliminated early by Kane.
After the match, he spoke to Triple H and Vince McMahon, and it was during this conversation
that he told the two men that he had had enough and was leaving.
Punk claims that McMahon contacted him two weeks later to tell him he had been suspended
indefinitely, There was then no contact between the company and Punk until two days before
his wedding to then WWE Superstar AJ Lee.
Triple H texted Punk to ask for a chat, and Punk said after his wedding and honeymoon,
he’d be happy to chat.
However, on the day of his wedding, Punk received a letter from WWE telling him he had been
fired.
“The day of my wedding I got a FedEx in the mail.
It was my termination papers.
I was fired.”
The eyes of the Wrestling World will be on All In on September 1, and who knows what
the future of wrestling holds for CM Punk.