It’s not often you hear a public mea culpa from someone in the wrestling business, especially someone as vocal and direct asCM Punk.Unabashed and unafraid, Punk has made a career of saying how he feels, what he believes, and doesn’t let anyone tell him otherwise.
In this latest timeline, CM Punk has not only returned toWWE, but shown the wrestling world he’s shed those uneasy “personality traits” some detractors had said about him, including at one point, Triple H. In thepremiere episode of ESPN+’s “Stephanie’s Places,“CM Punk made a surprising admission about his departurefrom WWE in 2014, one that almost no one expected.
How It Started Between Punk and Hunter
This Was A Tense One, No Matter How You Cut It
In a wrestling world that operates between the lines of real and pretend, no one is better at this tightrope walk than CM Punk, arguably one of the greatest to ever pick up a microphone in the squared circle. DuringPunk’s 2011 championship run, Punk was involved in a heated exchange of words with the then-WWE Chief Operating Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque whereboth pushed the boundaries of fact and fiction,and contained a level of truth in the real anger towards one another.
After Punk’s departure from WWE in 2014, he first aired his grievances about perceived slights towards him on “The Art of Wrestling” podcast, specifically regarding what he had been told was the WrestleMania main event and how he thought Triple H really felt about him:
“I told them again and Hunter, he was gritting his teeth and I knew… he never liked me. It’s one of those situations where you always hear those stories in the dirt sheets about ‘Hunter says this about Punk’ and all this negative stuff but me and him in a room together? Never any good vibes. Always negative, the way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me. For instance, a simple courtesy call. ‘Hey, that is the European tour, you can’t do the movie, we’re going to have Randy do it.’ But he thought he didn’t have to do that because he thought that I was a piece of s***.
Almost an entire decade of back-and-forth took place,including Punk’s declaration that he would “never, ever” return to wrestling, andthe war seemed impossible to solve, with both sides not willing to take any concession on what got them there. But Punk was as aggrieved as he was the aggriever: although he was fired from the company on his wedding day -something Vince McMahon apologized for and said was an “unfortunate coincidence”- Punk was, at times, tense about his creative direction prior to walking out of the company. Whether Punk was justified in doing so has long been debated by wrestling fans and writers, but it’s clearboth parties shared some responsibilitiesfor the relationship.
All Elite Wrestling Has Entered The Chat
Punk’s First Surprise Return Sent Shockwaves
The worst-kept secret in wrestling was revealed as true when CM Punk made his first return to professional wrestling, signing with AEW in 2021. During his shocking but brief time with the company,Punk took the opportunity to take many shots at his former employer,including one famous one at the new two-night format ofWrestleManiaduring a promo in his feud against MJF:
“If you think the grass is so greener on the other side, be my guest. Go ahead, leave. Main event Night 4 of a buy-one-get-one-free extravaganza and then get released faster than you last in the sack.”
Punk continued to keep the public pressure up on WWE during sporadic promos and public comments, but as the relationship between him and AEW soured - quickly - the direction of Punk’s ire turned towards AEW, Tony Khan, and The Elite, as the details ofthe infamous “Brawl Out” were released. It’s impossible to know how much of the Brawl Out and its fallout contributed to a change in both philosophy and thought process towards WWE, but it wasn’t long after Punk’s termination from AEW that the resigning occurred, andPunk triumphantly returned to WWEatSurvivor Series: WarGamesin 2023.
Time Heals All Wounds, and Fences Are Easy to Mend in Sports Entertainment
Punk and Hunter Are Now Best Buds
With his shocking return to WWE in 2023, and whether it was for the love of the game or personal growth, CM Punk and Triple H put their major differences aside and conducted business to create one of the most shocking moments in WWE history. During “Stephanie’s Places,“Triple H reflected on Punk’s return, still expressing genuine shock that it happened:
“If there was ever a guy you said will never return here to WWE, it would be CM Punk. If you look at the history and everything that had gone down…his side, the company side…I think he would have said it a couple of years ago, ‘Never happening,’ but things change.”
During the same episode, Punk did something fans hadn’t heard him do regarding his termination from WWE and in any public comments:acknowledged that maybe some of it was his doing, too.
“I certainly made mistakes. I certainly did dumb things. I certainly was a schmuck, and I think there was some stuff that was, you know, unfair and unjust, whatever. The broader spectrum, we’re talking about how many countries we’re in worldwide and the millions of people around the world – they just know that one day I was gone.”
While both Punk and Triple H acknowledged through the years that things were much more complicated than they appeared, the reality of both sides being open to the idea of mistakes was a key motivating factor to his return.
Our Take On CM Punk’s Comments on “Stephanie’s Places”
Growth and Maturity Change Perspectives
Occupying a space that allows a person to acknowledge faults and misguided judgment calls is a difficult one, especially when a situation exists where things aren’t nearly as clear as others. Growth involves truthful introspection, honesty, and the ability to be honest about the circumstances of events, andit’s clear Punk has grown exponentially as both a person and a performer.As Triple H also said in a segment of the show, if neither of them had changed over the last ten years, they would both have reasons to be worried.
It’s rare to hear honesty and clarity regarding a very public split and spat that spanned a decade, where both sides refused to acknowledge the other’s side of things. WithCM Punk’s acknowledgment, he allowed himself the space and clearance to heal from a very difficult time in his life and allowed his latest run inWWEto be clear of baggage and frustrations,as well as a dream actualized heading intoWrestleMania 41.
