Thursday, November 27, 2014

C.M. Punk discusses his WWE departure (Part Two)

Punk recalled having surgery on a Wednesday morning and walking out of the hospital when he received a phone call from Vince McMahon. He said he was having flashbacks to the elbow surgery and the way that was handled. Vince said they just announced on the website that Punk would be facing Ryback on the first Raw of the year two and a half weeks later while acknowledging that the prognosis for Punk's recovery time was actually four to six weeks. Punk said he told Vince the next day that he needed time off after he dropped the title. Vince told him he needs him for a rematch against Rock, but Punk told him no way
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-Punk ended up doing the rematch and told Vince that he was checking out for a while after WrestleMania. Vince disagreed and said he'd be the hottest heel. Punk questioned how that would be when he was losing to Undertaker, who was leaving after WrestleMania, just as Rock was. Punk said he worked the match with a chip on his shoulder because he knew the match would be better than Rock vs. Cena.

-Punk took off two months after undergoing knee surgery. "I discovered life and I started looking at my bank account and going, 'This is f---in' ridiculous" and realizing he didn't need to do it anymore. He said could go work at Starbucks and at least they would give him health insurance.
-Vince called him and told him he wanted him back for a pay-per-view in Chicago "in June or July" for a match against Chris Jericho. Punk said he wanted to come back at SummerSlam. Vince informed him that he would be facing Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Punk said he gets along great with Lesnar, but he wasn't happy about losing to part-time wrestlers because of what it said about him and the current wrestlers.

-After Punk worked Lesnar, Vince told him he didn't know what to do with him. He asked if he would work against Ryback again. Punk told him no. "Do you not see a problem going from Brock to Ryback?" Punk asked Vince. He said he would make it work even though he wanted to work with Curtis Axel. He said Triple H told Axel he was going to get him over and obviously did not.

-Punk said he suffered a tilted pelvis when Ryback went to gorilla press him through a table and somehow missed the table. Punk confronted him backstage and questioned whether he did it on purpose. "You either tell me right now you're dumb as f--- and you suck or you did it on purpose," Punk recalled saying. Ryback told him he was dumb as f--- and was sorry. Punk said he also suffered bruised ribs when he took a bad bump while being speared by Roman Reigns
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-Punk suffered another concussion when he was hit "by something" during a match with Luke Harper. He said they were scheduled to go on a European tour. He claims the doctor asked him if he had a concussion or if he could go to Europe. He labeled the doctor a a pig.

-Punk was given antibiotics that caused him to shit himself during a match. He tweeted about it. Vince and Seth Rollins both found it funny, but the office called and asked him to remove the word shit. Punk complied and then blocked WWE on Twitter.

-Punk said he was having a couple of MRIs per week at this point. He said he was hurting and the owner of the company told him "I'll owe you one" three times, and yet his pay was going down.
-Punk wasn't happy for his WrestleMania pay when he worked Undertaker. He said he didn't feel he should be paid less than Rock, John Cena, or Undertaker. Punk said WrestleMania sells WrestleMania, and therefore he doesn't think Rock should have been paid more than him.

-Punk recalled having a hematoma that he wanted the doctor to cut out. The doctor declined to cut it out, and Punk believes it's because he is lazy. Punk said it swelled up to the size of a baseball and he feared that if he bumped on it it would burst. The doctor said he wanted to put him on antibiotics because he had to work in the Royal Rumble. Punk told him he had been on the antibiotics that the same doctor administered since November.

-Punk said he loved wrestling Kane and no one has a bad thing to say about him, but he wanted to do something new.

-Rusev was intimidated by Punk. He told him to look around the Gorilla position and told him none of those people cared about him, and he needed to create his moment. Punk suffered another concussion while working with Kofi Kingston in the Royal Rumble. Punk rolled to ringside and told the doctor that he was concussed. The doctor asked him what he wanted to do. They sent Kane out to get him out of the match early, but Punk said the wrestler in him refused to leave the match early. He walked backstage after the match and told the doctor to cut "this thing out of me." The doctor still wouldn't do it.

-Punk said he had a moment of clarity while driving that night. He said he went to television and they wanted him to take a concussion test. They also wanted him to take a urine test and he flew off the handle. He vented about the company amending the drug test to take strikes off.

-Punk went into Vince's office and said he needed to talk to him. Hunter said he would leave, but Punk told him to stay. Punk said he doesn't love it anymore, and he doesn't understand where the business is going. He said it's not fun and he has no passion for it. He said he was concussed and hurt, and the only thing Vince cared about was what segment he was in and when he could get his gear on and making him take the piss test.

-Punk spoke openly to Vince in the meeting about the idea of bringing back Batista as a babface. He said he and Batista have since spoke since then and they get along great and "Dave was cool with all of" what he had to say. During the meeting with Vince, Triple H told him that Batista took the same urine test he did. "Did you?" Punk asked Triple H. He said Hunter did not reply.

-Punk recalled telling Vince the various things he did for him and all he wanted was the main event of WrestleMania. He said it's fine if Vince doesn't think he's that caliber of a superstar, but he should fire him if that's the case. He said Vince shackled him, creatively stifled him, and made it a toxic environment. Punk also told Vince that he couldn't believe Daniel Bryan was in their main event plans, just as three years ago he was white hot only to be fed to Hunter.

-Vince told Punk that it must be the concussion talking. He said Punk was in a main event because he was facing Triple H. Punk turned to Triple H and told him he didn't need to wrestle Triple H, Triple H needed to wrestle him. Punk told him he resented him for not putting him over three years earlier when he should have. "That would have been best for business and you had to come in and f---ing squash it," Punk recalled saying. Punk recalled saying he had to lose to R-Truth and Miz and it didn't make any business sense then or now. "I'm in a position now where I can tell you that I don't have to and nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania," Punk told him. Punk said he didn't care that he was supposed to win. "I didn't want to give him the f---ing privilege," he said.

-Punk said Triple H never liked him. He said there were never any positive vibes when they were in the same room together.

-Punk said he is stoked that Daniel Bryan got his WrestleMania main event "because they can never take it away from him." He also recalled Hunter telling him that he worked a WrestleMania main event when he worked against Undertaker. Punk told Hunter to tell him he was paid the same as him, Taker, Cena, etc.

-At the end of the meeting, Punk said Vince McMahon had tears in his eyes and he went in for a hug. Punk said he gave Vince a pat on the back hug. Hunter stuck his hand out, Punk shook it, and said "goodbye."

-Punk said he could have walked whenever he wanted to because he's an independent contractor. "I could have walked whenever I wanted to," Punk said. He added that he didn't quit in the middle of a program or hold up the company.

-Punk said Vince texted him a week after he left and asked if he was ready to return to work. Punk texted him no.

-Punk said his wife (AJ Lee) convinced him to go to her doctor in Tampa. He showed him the issue on his waistline that the WWE doctor declined to remove. The doctor told him it was a full blown staph infection. The doctor cut it out and "shit shot onto the ceiling." Punk recalled the painful injuries he suffered during his career, but having it removed was the most painful thing he's ever gone through in his life. The doctor told that by waiting three months, he could have actually died.

-Vince eventually texted him to say he's suspended for two months. Punk said the suspension ended the day after WrestleMania, but at this point he didn't care. The two months passed and he didn't here from anyone. He recalled Vince stating in a quarterly conference call that he was on "sabbatical." Punk said he stopped receiving his royalty checks from WWE. However, he found a check that he never cashed. Punk called to have it reissued. The money didn't come, yet Punk was okay with it because they were leaving him alone and he was leaving them alone by not badmouthing them publicly.

-Punk said he started getting "butt calls" from WWE talent relations, including one from Jane Geddes. He called back and left a message once about the two checks. A week later, Jane Geddes called him back and said she would look into the checks.

-Around June 11, Triple H texted to ask if he had time to talk. Punk told him he's always been a phone call away, but he was getting married in two days. He said he would call Hunter the day he got back from his honeymoon. Punk texted that they could reissue the royalty check in the meantime. Triple H didn't respond.

-The day of his wedding, Punk received his termination papers. "Very calculated, very deliberate," he said. Punk chuckled at it, yet felt they pushed the wrong guy too far. Punk said the letter was ridiculous. It said he forfeited his royalty rights and had been in breach of contract since January 27. Punk said he's not a lawyer, but he knows they had to notify him of being in breach back at that time. There is a noncompete clause in the release papers that mentions UFC. He said Alberto Del Rio has the same clause. He laughs because WWE claims UFC isn't competition.

-Punk called a "vicious lawyer" and shared the story. "We lawyered up and we got those motherf---ers." Punk said he can't talk about the terms of the settlement, but he can say that he got everything he wanted and then some. He said it was stupid of 2K Sports to advertise him for the video game. He recalled they tweeted him "Do we have your attention now?" Punk added, "Well, 2K Sports, do I have your f---ing attention now? Thanks for the big, fat check."

-Punk said WWE wanted to issue a joint statement and he declined. Punk said they wanted to include a clause that prevented him from disparaging them. Punk recalled WWE referring to him as a quitter in his hometown. WWE lawyers also accused him of wanting to go to TNA and the platform would be burying WWE. "They're bullies," Punk said. "Even though they're losing, they want to feel like they won something."

-Punk said he did give WWE the right to sell the merchandise they had already made. He stressed there is no working arrangement and there never will be.

-Punk said WWE was terrified that he would go to court and ruin the way they do business. He said he would like to see the talent have a union and spoke about the restrictions the talent has despite being labeled independent contractors.

-Punk spoke about going forward outside pro wrestling and having the freedom to do whatever he wants to do. He said some people will say he failed at wrestling because he didn't main event WrestleMania. He said he has come to terms with not main eventing WrestleMania. He said Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn said his match with Undertaker should have gone on last. "Yeah, I know," Punk said.

-Punk said he's not setting out to be a "f--- WWE" guy and he has friends who still work there.
-Punk brought up Chris Jericho stating in a podcast that he doesn't talk to his friends in wrestling anymore. Punk said he doesn't talk to people who have agendas who are trying to ask him what happened so they can report it on their podcasts or blog about it.

-They closed by talking about doing a "cool down" episode next week where they will take fan questions.

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