CM Punk explains recent absence from WWE programming
CM Punk addressed his absence from WWE programming during a recent interview.
Punk was off WWE television from his post-WrestleMania segment with Cody Rhodes on the April 20 episode of Raw until he returned on July 6 in Chicago, where he defeated Sami Zayn to win the WWE Championship.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Punk was asked about his time away. Punk stated that the break was “just to reset” following a difficult period in which multiple people close to him passed away.
Punk said:
“In my business, in this company, for me to be able to say that I had time off and it wasn’t due to injury or surgery is remarkable. It was the first time in my career I had time off without having to go get a surgery or be injured.”
“I just hung out with my wife. You know, I had a, I’m not going to say a rough year. Suffering is relative. I was heavyweight champion over on Raw for quite some time, and during that entire time I was champion, I had at least three or four people who were very close to me pass away.”
“Each time, I was at work the next day. I didn’t talk about it publicly. I showed up partially because it helped me being here amongst my road family and being able to connect with the fans on that level helped me get through it, but there was still some stuff I needed to process.”
“So, my time away was just to kind of reset. And one day away from my wife is one day too many. I’ve been with her like every single day, and now that I’m back, I’m champ and I’m on the road. I’m as full-time as full-time gets.”
Punk is scheduled for tonight’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden in New York. He will team with Cody Rhodes against Gunther and Sami Zayn. The match carries a stipulation that if Gunther and Zayn win, they will be added to the WWE Championship match between Punk and Rhodes at SummerSlam.
Punk’s full interview with ESPN is available below. The video is queued to his comments about his time away from WWE programming.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.