CM Punk praises ‘phenomenal’ WWE star Jey Uso
CM Punk views Jey Uso as the “number one, shining example” of why internet criticism often does not reflect reality.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Punk praised Uso as a phenomenal wrestler and one of WWE’s best merchandise sellers. Uso might receive criticism from a portion of fans online, but Punk sees how much support he gets at live shows.
“I use Jey Uso as the number one, shining example. Jey Uso in every arena — I’m battling with John Cena and Jey Uso as who sells more T-shirts on any given night,” Punk said. “Everybody’s going crazy for his music. They’re Yeeting. They want him to run it back. This dude can go out on TV for 10 minutes and just Yeet.
“But then if you went on the internet, ‘Oh, he’s the worst wrestler alive.’ Is he? Or are you just extremely hyperbolic? Everything nowadays is, ‘This is the best thing ever.’ ‘This is the worst thing ever.’ ‘I don’t like this so you have to not like it too.’ And it’s really just like — like what you like. Champion that. I try to stay away from the negativity. Jey Uso is f*cking phenomenal. He is. 100 percent. We just live these lives that are so public that everybody wants to point fingers and, like, laugh if we slip on a banana peel or make a mistake.”
Uso’s popularity helped earn him both a Royal Rumble victory and World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2025. He and Punk were opponents this past November when Punk won the World title, which had been vacated by Seth Rollins.
Punk’s interview on Busted Open was to promote his role in the horror movie “Night Patrol.” With how much he’s loving his WWE run and being able to appear in acting roles, Punk feels like he’s living the dream.
“I’m in the fairytale,” he told Busted Open. “It’s why I wrestle so much now, is because I know someday that I’m not going to be able to. So I’m really just selfishly trying to enjoy this run. And it’s the same thing with movies. I get to play in a world that I grew up watching [and] idolizing these people.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.