CM Punk on blurring lines in WWE: ‘I put the toothpaste back in the bottle’
CM Punk doesn’t agree with the idea that you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube.
During an appearance on ESPN’s This is Football, Punk was asked to give his thoughts on Netflix’s “WWE: Unreal” documentary. Punk might not like some of the ways the show pulls back the curtain, but he believes everyone has always known that wrestling is a work. His job as a performer is to blur the lines and make fans wonder if what they’re seeing is legitimate or not.
“Little bit of a history lesson, I don’t think the general public ever really didn’t know that what we do — like, the winking. I think if you’re smart about it, you gotta get even more creative,” Punk said. “I always say it’s what I do, I put the toothpaste back in the bottle. I make people go, ‘Oh, gosh, that, okay.’ And what I’m doing with Roman [Reigns] is absolutely no different. He has his stans [passionate fans]. I have mine. They see what we do on TV and they analyze everything: ‘Oh, he really got mad at that.’ And therein lies the magic, therein lies the blurring of the line.
“Yeah, I do think we give away too much on ‘Unreal.’ To me, the positive side is how it shows the human people behind the scenes. I like that as pieces on individual athletes. It’s the same reason why I enjoy watching [NFL’s] ‘Hard Knocks.’ Whereas I’m not the biggest football fan, I’m not totally invested in the season, I’ll watch the Bears, I’ll root for the Bears. But ‘Hard Knocks’ is fascinating because you get to see these guys. You see them interact with their kids, their wives, and you see all that. There’s that human element, and I think ‘Unreal’ is great for that. I don’t necessarily need a camera showing you guys talking to each other about a match.”
Punk defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Reigns is official for WrestleMania 42 this April. Their feud has played on supposed real-life heat between the two with Reigns saying that he has always hated Punk.
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.