Fan wants ‘an apology’ after CM Punk post-WWE WrestleMania incident
The fan who had his phone smacked away by CM Punk after WWE WrestleMania 42 is asking for an apology.
On Monday, TMZ Sports published video of an incident that took place in a Las Vegas hotel lobby after Mania. A fan was filming Punk’s wife AJ Lee and Bayley as they hugged and said goodbye to each other. In response, Punk knocked the man’s phone to the ground. Punk was visibly angry, but the incident did not escalate any further. Security and Punk’s mentor Ace Steel stepped in to help diffuse the situation.
The fan, asking to remain anonymous, has now spoken to TMZ and said he is not planning to sue Punk, instead asking for an apology and a handshake.
“I want an apology — shake my hand — I’m not gonna sue him or put him in jail,” the fan said. “I just want an apology.”
Punk has frequently spoken out against fans who show up at hotels and airports looking for wrestlers, and security was said to have been an issue all of WrestleMania weekend with not enough being done to give wrestlers privacy while they had to go through common areas where fans were going to be.
TMZ has also shared some more video of the incident between Punk and the fan. It shows that, before Punk slapped his phone away, Bayley and Lee had multiple fans filming them. The two then went into an elevator bank looking for privacy, but this man followed them.
“We love you, Bayley,” the fan said before Bayley responded by putting her hand up to block the man’s phone and telling him to get out of there. Punk then smacked the phone away.
The incident happened shortly after Punk main evented night two of WrestleMania 42 in a loss to Roman Reigns. Punk appeared on Raw last night and teased an upcoming match against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
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.