CM Punk

### **World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2006-2014**)

Punk did not appear on the April 7 episode of Raw, nor did he appear at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday despite being advertised for the event. By Wednesday, WWE.com stopped advertising Punk for future events. The Wrestling Observer reported that on Monday and prior to Raw he had legitimately walked out after telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that he was "going home". On April 20 during a conference call to investors, McMahon said Punk was "taking a sabbatical". On the May 3 episode of Raw, WWE acknowledged Punk's absence on television when the show started with Punk's entrance music playing, only for former manager Paul Heyman to walk out. WWE proceeded to remove Punk from footage of their promotional videos. In an interview published in late May, Punk was asked how it felt "to be retired at 35" and replied that "it feels good". On July 15, WWE.com moved Punk from the active roster to the alumni page without releasing a statement. On the same day, Punk thanked his fans without mentioning WWE. In late July, Punk said that he was "never ever" going to return to wrestling.

On an episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast released in November 2014, Punk broke his silence regarding his exit from WWE. In a detailed interview, Punk said that he was suspended for 2 months after walking out on the company in April and that after the suspension ended, nobody from WWE contacted him. Punk quit WWE in June 2014 but reached out to them for unpaid royalties. Punk stated that he would never return to WWE and that following a legal settlement with WWE there would be no further working relationship between them. The settlement included Punk giving WWE permission to sell his remaining merchandise.

Punk cited his health as the main reason he left WWE, describing that in his final months in the company, he had been working through an untreated MRSA infection (later Punk acknowledged on the witness stand that no physician ever diagnosed him with an MRSA staph infection), broken ribs, injured knees and multiple concussions, including one at the 2014 Royal Rumble, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well. Punk felt that WWE was pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before fully recovering. According to Punk, he found a lump on his back in November 2013, and it was diagnosed as a fatty deposit by Dr. Chris Amann, who refused to remove it despite Punk's requests (this would later be confirmed to be a lie).

Other sources of unhappiness Punk had with WWE were his failure to main event a WrestleMania (deeming his entire career to be a failure as a result), being paid less than the other wrestlers in the three most significant matches of WrestleMania 29, doing favours for Vince McMahon and not being owed back, being "creatively stifled", feeling that there were no long-term plans for wrestlers other than John Cena, as well as receiving less pay and not getting answers as to how the advent of the WWE Network would affect wrestlers' salaries. Lastly, Punk described having left with "zero passion" for wrestling and described himself at the time of the interview to be the happiest in many years.

Less than 1 week later, while being interviewed on The Steve Austin Show on the WWE Network, Vince McMahon said that he was open to working with Punk again. In a second Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk rejected McMahon's apology as insincere and a "publicity stunt" as McMahon did not contact him directly to apologize and could have apologized earlier.

### **UFC**

At UFC 181, on December 6, 2014, Punk announced that he had signed a multi-fight contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When asked if he would compete under his ring name or birth name, he told the Las Vegas Sun: "I've come this far with CM Punk. That's what people know. I'm trying to stick with that. I'm not shying away from it. I'm not ashamed of it." His UFC profile lists him as CM Punk.

In January 2015, Punk began training under Duke Roufus at Roufusport MMA Academy. In June 2015, Punk moved to Milwaukee to be closer to the Roufusport gym while still retaining his home in Chicago. Later, it was announced that Punk would compete in the welterweight division. In October 2015, Roufus announced that Punk had suffered a shoulder injury, delaying his UFC debut until the next calendar year. On February 6, 2016, it was announced that Punk would face Mickey Gall in his first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) contest, but he was diagnosed with a herniated disc and underwent surgery days later

Punk's UFC and MMA debut against Mickey Gall took place on September 10 at UFC 203.[330] The event was held at the Quicken Loans Arena, the same venue where Punk left WWE and retired from professional wrestling. Punk was taken down immediately and lost via rear naked choke submission early in the 1st round. He was paid a disclosed $500,000. CM Punk was suspended for 45 days, 30 days no contact after UFC 203

Punk's 2nd professional bout took place at UFC 225 on May 13, 2017, against Mike Jackson, in Dallas. Punk showed promise, landing strikes and even scoring a takedown on Jackson, however Punk would become fatigued in round 2 and would be dominated by Jackson for the rest of the bout, ultimately losing by unanimous decision. After Punk's bout with Jackson, UFC released Punk and Punk announced his retirement from MMA

### Return to WWE (2017-2018)

After seemly stating he would never re-join WWE, Punk noted it was "a bridge that is gonna have to be built", but would return to wrestling if the "money was right", Punk surprisingly re-joined WWE.

Punk no-showed the Raw after WrestleMania 33 and took a week-long break without the company's consent, citing exhaustion. McMahon claimed his actions caused fury among fans who had paid to see him that night. In a May 2017 interview Punk stunned the company and fans by launching a verbal attack on the direction the company was heading in and slated the creative team for not using him the way he felt they previously did. The WWE prepping Punk for a feud with Braun Strowman. However, Punk balked at the proposition and ultimately walked out of the company. Punk later explained that the feud made Punk look weak. Further fanning the flames amongst Punk's growing number of detractors was a multiple criminal transgressions.

After Punk again no-showed the June 10 episode of Raw, his storylines were dropped. Punk walked out again, publicly stating he felt bad storylines were presented to him by the creative team. This time his departure was for good. McMahon insisted that Punk owed an apology to all the fans across the world, especially those who paid solely to see him that night. McMahon toasted to Punk's career with a beer thanking him for all his hard work nonetheless.

For the remainder of 2017, Punk kept a low profile and did not make any public appearances. Punk had grudges held against other WWE wrestlers, had problems with The Hardy Boyz re-joining the company. He also disagreed with Adam Cole joining the company. Punk confessed he had a major rift with Rob Terry's role in the company and also had a dispute with AJ Styles

Punk was given a 2-month suspension and fine, Punk suspension was uplifted by August 10, after Punk and McMahon met but could not resolved their differences. Punk quit on August 17.

### **AEW**

On August 20, 2021, Punk made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) at The First Dance event on Rampage, challenging Darby Allin to a match at the All Out pay-per-view event. This marked Punk's return to professional wrestling after 3 years

**All Out Fall Out**

* In the post-All Out media scrum, CM Punk took issue with certain members of the media as he addressed non-kayfabe rumors that he had attempted to get Scott Colton (Colt Cabana) fired, a rumor which he adamantly denied. Punk cited "irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs" and saying they "could not run a target" (AEW's EVPs are Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks) and "Hangman" Adam Page as the reason why those rumors were leaked and reported in the weeks leading up to All Out. He also addressed an incident where Adam Page went off-script in a face-to-face promo leading up to their match at Double or Nothing in May, Punk quoted as saying "What did I ever do in this world to deserve an empty-headed fucking dumb-fuck like 'Hangman' Adam Page to go out on national television and fucking go into business for himself? For what? What did I do?"
* Multiple publications, including Fightful, PWInsider, and Wrestling Observer, reported that after Punk's comments, a shoot backstage fight occurred between Punk, Punk's friend Ace Steel, Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes (who has been recovering from a torn right pectoral tendon since June and could not come back until March).
* The word making the rounds is that Cody and Kenny "kicked the door down" of Punk's locker room (later Punk and Steel admitted that did not happen) when the latter didn't respond, both wanted to confronted Punk about his comments at the scrum. Punk allegedly starting things by swinging fists at the Cody. Punk trainer/friend and AEW producer Steel threw a chair that hit the Cody in the eye and blackened it. Steel (Chris Guy) allegedly bit Omega and grabbed his hair. The reason for Steel going "ballistic" was because his wife was in the vicinity during the alleged physical altercation, with sources claiming that he was just looking out for her
* AEW security and staff as well as The Young Bucks eventually broke up the altercation. One security guard could be seen running out of the room where the media scrum was still ongoing.
* Steel's wife was there taking care of Punk's dog, Larry. Omega said that he was protecting the dog and teied to move it out of the way (as he was a dog lover) but Steel bit Omega
* The entire scene was “very long,” and included a heated verbal exchange even after the men were physically separated with Punk repeatedly threatened legal action during the shouting portion of the fight
* The majority of the talent within the locker room was unhappy with how Punk handled the incident and now wants the veteran to be gone from AEW. Only Danhuasen and FTR (who are Punk's friends) supported Punk with the rest supporting Cody and Omega.
* CM Punk was also unhappy at AEW
* The Young Bucks failed to stop Cody and Kenny from going to Punk's locker room
* Punk and Omega have had heat since indy days, whilst Punk and Cody also have heat since they were both in WWE as well as around the first All Out in 2019 when they tried to get him to come out of retirement. Cody reportedly felt slighted and were upset, and things have been “slowly bubbling” since then, and that ultimately led to what happened late last night at the NOW Arena
* Whilst Punk and The Young Bucks have also got some beef since indy days, the two seemed to have no problems with each other in AEW.
* Bobby Fish and CM Punk also had problems
* MJF has been questioned by legal team due to him being a witness

**Aftermath**

* CM Punk was fired due to "backstage heat", becoming a massive "piece of work to deal with", a huge diva, incredibly selfish and backstage politicking, thus AEW wanted to remove him, to remove his negativity and mental drain he was bringing.
* Ace Steel was fired
* Cody Rhodes was suspended without pay for 90 days after March (when he will fully recover from injury) and is stripped/removed of his EVP role
* Kenny Omega was suspended without pay for 90 days and is stripped/removed of his EVP role, his only role now will be working with AEW Games but this will be a unpaid role.
* Brandon Cutler was suspended without pay for 30 days
* The Young Bucks (Nick and Mick Jackson) was suspended without pay for 30 days
* Christopher Daniels was suspended without pay for 30 days

## **Controversies**

### **Florida robbery arrest**

On 11 March 2013, Punk was arrested outside of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida after he attacked a fan taking a picture with a cellphone. In an incident that was caught on CCTV, Punk lunged to hit the man, grabbed his device and smashed it on the ground with his feet. Subsequently he was arrested and charged with strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief. Punk was held in custody for several hours before being released on a $5,000 bond. On 14 March 2019, news surfaced that Punk was also facing a civil lawsuit from the fan involved in the incident. On 8 April, Punk lost the civil lawsuit and was ordered to pay $1,000. He was found guilty of criminal mischief and was sentenced to 60 days in county jail (released on 10 May 2023)

### **Chicago pub assault**

On 15 August 2013, TMZ Sports published a video that showed Punk punching an older man at a restaurant in Chicago. Punk had repeatedly offered the victim a drink, which the victim repeatedly declined, then Punk had punched him. Illinois police stated that they had opened an investigation. Punk was charged with assault and first appeared in court on 11 October 2019. The court heard that Punk had 18 prior convictions from 2018 going back to 2009. The majority were for driving offences, but he was given the Probation Act in 2009 when he was an apprentice plumber for an assault causing harm offence. On 1 November, Punk pleaded guilty to the assault and was fined $2,500 and given a 2-year probation.

**Punk driving offences**

In November 2013, Punk pleaded guilty to exceeding the speed limit in Chicago. He was fined $475. In November 2018 he pleaded guilty to speeding in Cleveland, Ohio and was fined $1,000 and disqualified from driving for 6 months

On June 22, 2024, Punk was arrested in Chicago and charged with 6 driving offenses, including 2 counts of dangerous driving, being uninsured and having no licence, and failing to produce his documents. His car was seized by the Illinois state police. He was fined $5,000 and given a 6 month imprisonment, he was released on December 22, 2024

### **Feud with Colt Cabana**

CM Punk tweeted several times Monday about the recently settled lawsuit filed by Colt Cabana, calling his former best friend "greedy" and saying Cabana tried to extort him.

"Why'd he ask to settle then? I wanted it to go to trial! Play stupid games, win stupid prizes! Enjoy donating to the eventual 'woe is me' go fund me account," Punk tweeted in response to a Twitter user.

Punk continued: "HE SUED ME. He wanted to end the dumb s--t HE started? I asked to speak to him, he declined. I asked to enter mediation, he declined. I offered money, IT WASNT ENOUGH! I never wanted ANY of it. He's as greedy as you are ignorant to who I am, and fooled by who he is. I loved the guy. Would've done anything for him. And the irony is, if he just would've asked for the money, I'd have given it to him. Instead he tried to extort me."

Cabana had sued Punk for unpaid legal fees after he alleged Punk agreed to cover their defense in the lawsuit filed by WWE doctor Chris Amann. Punk filed a countersuit in June. The case was dismissed last week after both Cabana and Punk agreed to drop their lawsuits.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported there was no financial settlement to the lawsuits. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning both sides agreed not to file another lawsuit.

Cabana was seeking $200,000 in unpaid legal fees, along with another $1 million in damages. Punk was seeking $600,000, or half of what he paid to attorneys on Cabana's behalf as part of Amann's lawsuit, which Cabana won.