CM Punk achieved a major milestone in his career on April 19, as he main evented at WWE and Netflix’s WrestleMania 41, where he faced off against not one but two opponents, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. And although he did not emerge triumphant, due in large part to a(nother) shocking betrayal by one Paul […]CM Punk achieved a major milestone in his career on April 19, as he main evented at WWE and Netflix’s WrestleMania 41, where he faced off against not one but two opponents, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. And although he did not emerge triumphant, due in large part to a(nother) shocking betrayal by one Paul
CM Punk achieved a major milestone in his career on April 19, as he main evented at WWE and Netflix’s WrestleMania 41, where he faced off against not one but two opponents, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. And although he did not emerge triumphant, due in large part to a(nother) shocking betrayal by one Paul Heyman, Punk proved he can not only climb the mountain, but he can hold his own against two younger competitors, and that he will come back even stronger and more resolute the next time.
The morning after his main event, Punk, born Phillip Jack Brooks, met me at an expansive conference space converted into a training area for the wrestlers. In the middle of the room were two massive platforms that were now naked, but in the lead up to WrestleMania, had been dressed to the nines while serving as practice rings. Punk was tired but in good spirits. As he walked in, it was easy to imagine the crowds screaming his name around a ring just like the ones in the room, just a few hours beforehand, and him preparing for the biggest match of his career thus far.
Although Punk and I met briefly when Raw debuted on Netflix on January 6, at the post-event presser, we had never had a conversation. To be clear, Punk, a total gentleman, offered me one of his Randy’s donuts during his Q&A, and the video went a little viral on social media. The universe reunited us at WrestleMania 41 to allow me to learn more about Punk to share with his legions of fans, who this man is when he’s not in the ring as one of WWE’s biggest stars.
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DEADLINE: The intensity from the WrestleMania crowd when you walked out ahead of your match was palpable. What insight can you give into what was going through your mind in that moment?
CM PUNK: The best way I can describe it is that it’s like a dream because I have recollection, I know I was there last night. I remember walking down the ramp and Living Colour playing my music, but you can’t hear, and things are kind of foggy. Everything is just loud, and there’s like white noise behind you. It’s ethereal. I dreamed of doing this ever since I was a little kid, and the moment was there, and I was doing my best to live in it. And it’s just like everything’s happening at the speed of light, but I’m trying to slow it down. It’s quite the experience. Before I turn the switch on and I’m backstage alone, I try to meditate a little. But once you see me on camera, it’s go time.
DEADLINE: With all the external stimuli and the adrenaline pumping, do you keep it going afterward, or do you need time to recover?
PUNK: I’m 100% an introvert, and I think a lot of my fellow entertainers are too. Everyone’s always shocked, or they tell me that I’m not [an introvert], but I know me. For every hour I spend with people, I need two hours by myself. So when you’re having this intimate moment with 61,000 people, I live for those moments, but I need to balance and decompress afterward. That’s why when I get invited to cool spots to eat and stuff like that, honestly, that’s the last thing you want to do after that. I went back to my hotel with four or five friends, and we ordered everything on the room service menu and just sat around the table and bullshit like family. That’s how I decompress from all that adrenaline.
DEADLINE: Today is your day off, but you have work on the agenda. Why is it so important that you make time for your fans?
PUNK: Yes, I’m about to sign autographs and take pictures for an hour each. People will hear me say, “It’s the most exhausting thing,” and they’ll take that as a negative. But it’s just that you’re sharing these intimate moments with people, and you want to give them each their moment individually. I don’t want it to be a conveyor belt of my fans coming through and just, “Hi, picture.” I want to say hello to them and ask what their name is. I try to make that moment special because they’re paying money to see me, take a picture, or get my autograph. It’s a lot of give, give, give, and it’s exhausting in that sense, but also, I love it. You meet so many people from all over the globe, and they want to tell me their stories and how they grew up watching me, and that I’m their favorite. It’s a lot of human interaction, and I definitely need to sit in a room by myself for a while afterward.
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DEADLINE: OK, so now you’re in the ring, about to face off against not one but two people with whom you have history. How do you approach the match?
PUNK: I have an overabundance of confidence in myself and my abilities. That’s where the whole “best in the world ” thing comes from, so I operate on that level. And so my thought is, “I’m gonna show these two pricks that I’m the best in the world.” That’s how I approach the match.
DEADLINE: Although there were three competitors total, the match was leaning heavy on you and Roman Reigns. Was this intentional?
PUNK: I think it’s something that people haven’t seen a lot of. They’ve seen me and Seth, they’ve seen Roman and Seth. So the new coat of paint on things is me and Roman going at it. He’s been on top since I left, so part of me wanted to show him, “Yeah, you’re on top, because I wasn’t here. Now I’m back, and I belong exactly where I was when I left, exactly where you’ve been for the last 10 years.”
DEADLINE: There were also chairs involved, which isn’t the first time for you or Roman. How did it change the whole match?
PUNK: Yeah, everything changed, the complexion of the match changed there. Maybe that’s why my back hurts? [Laughs] It’s funny when you go through a match like that, and while it’s happening, you’re thinking, “Okay, that one’s gonna hurt tomorrow morning,” but you forget unless it’s some big traumatic thing that severely injures you. You just reminded me he hit me with a chair, so he’s got receipts coming.
DEADLINE: What would you say hurt more, getting hit by the chair or Paul Heyman’s betrayal?
PUNK: Very good question. Heyman has betrayed me before. We’ve been friends for a very long time, and friends fight. Since he’s betrayed me before, he knows how this plays out. He knows there’s receipts coming for him, too. The betrayal and the mental pain, I think, are worse than the physical. I almost wish he would’ve done all that and stuck with Roman, because going with Seth was the real pain. But you know what? Seth needs him.
DEADLINE: We met over donuts because you like to indulge in sweet treats after a match. What did you eat after WrestleMania?
PUNK: I got a piece of chocolate cake and a pint of ice cream, and it was delicious. It was my night. Last night was perfect, it was everything it needed to be before, during, and after. I’m going to live in the moment for a while, but I have my eyes set on WrestleMania next year. Last night was the first of many, let’s just put it that way.
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DEADLINE: You have such a busy career as a wrestler, and you’re also an actor. How do you balance your time so you can do both?
PUNK: It’s a lot easier now. It was harder back in the day because wrestling was the lion’s share of what I did, and I wasn’t allowed to do other stuff. I have pre-existing relationships and projects I work on that are grandfathered into my contract. I typically do Monday Night Raw live on Netflix every week. But if I need to dip out for two weeks to shoot an independent film, I can always do that. We’re trying to petition Netflix to do a third season of Heels. I have two projects coming down the line that I’m very excited about. One is the TV show Revival that will air on Syfy, and a really, really fun movie called Night Patrol, written and directed by Ryan Prows. I don’t want to give away too much but it’s night patrol, LAPD, Bloods, Crips, vampires.
DEADLINE: Are you going to play a vampire?
PUNK: I’m not gonna tell you. [Laughs] It’s a total throwback, old-school fun horror movie. I can’t wait for my fans to see it; as much as I love it, I know they will too.
Editor’s note: He is playing a vampire, sources confirm. Fang-tastic.
DEADLINE: Would you be into doing a rom-com?
PUNK: I would love to do that. Me and Dave Bautista are trying to do a rom-com, maybe not together, but it’s a race. He really wants to do one, and I really want to do one too. Dave and I are two emotional b**ches. We would absolutely kill that genre, guaranteed, him especially. I’m dying to work with him. What if we were romantically involved? Who’s not going to pay to see that?
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This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.
My donut moment with Punk can be found below.