Former WWE Champion CM Punk was a recent guest on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast and opened up on his WWE departure.

Punk said that he’s the happiest that he has personally been in many years and that at times, he will come off bitter while discussing what happened, but that it’s okay to be bitter and that’s part of going through the process of dealing with everything and that his appearance wasn’t meant to be an attack on the WWE, but a discussion on what led to his departure from the company. Punk noted that while he left the company in January of this year, he was told weeks later by Vince McMahon through a text message that he was suspended by the company for 60 days and that the next day, Vince told stockholders that Punk was on a sabbatical, however when the suspension ended, not one person in WWE contacted him and when he finally reached out asking where royalties that were owed to him were, he got a run-around from WWE’s executives until he received his termination papers informing him that he was in breach of his contract, noting that he received them on his wedding day and that the company went too f****** far. Punk noted that the company tried to find him in retro-breach in June, instead of claiming that he breached his contract in January 2014 and he knew legally that wouldn’t stick if things went further.

Punk noted that he left the WWE the day after the 2014 Royal Rumble pay-per-view for one main reason, his health, noting that during the November 2013 tour, he was getting so sick that he was puking and dry heaving every night after wrestling, had a fever for months and had no appetite and that WWE medical had given him so many antibiotics by that time, he pooped himself in the ring on SmackDown, all while watching his checks shrink, describing it as the worst he ever felt in his life and that he was unable to sleep because he was so sick, all lasting through the end of his WWE run. Punk noted that at the Royal Rumble, he suffered a concussion early on, but still worked the entire match and the next day (which was the day he walked out), he passed the company’s concussion test (which he noted was b***s***) while texting Colt and wearing headphones and that WWE told him he passed the test, but wanted him to go run the ring ropes to check him again and that he refused and at that point, Punk demanded that the company just decided whether he had a concussion and admitted that until then, he was just trying to deny that he was hurt and toughed it out instead. Punk said that the exact same day, the WWE began pressuring him about signing visas for upcoming tours, as well as taking a drug test instead of listening to his requests to help him, because there was something obviously wrong with all the issues that had built up and deciding that he had enough, he decided to tell Vince McMahon and Triple H that he would be going home, was done and didn’t want to wrestle anymore. Punk noted that Vince hugged him goodbye and was in tears, telling him that he was family, yet later suspended him and fired him. Punk then talked about going to WWE doctor Chris Amann during the same time period as the November 2013 European tour because he found a lump on his back, which Amann diagnosed as a fatty deposit and despite Punk’s requests for Amann to cut it out, Amann refused, noting that it wasn’t hurting Punk. Punk noted that WWE’s doctors cut things out of the wrestlers on a regular basis, but Amann declined several times to remove it with Punk noting that he was lazy. Punk noted that on the day of the 2014 WWE Royal Rumble, he told Amann that it was now badly hurting him, was purple and had gotten bigger, but that Amann told him that he couldn’t do it on the day, as Punk had to work the Royal Rumble and that after the Royal Rumble, Punk demanded it to be cut out there and then and that Amann noted that Punk would need to be on antibiotics, to which Punk responded that he had already been put on antibiotics the WWE doctors have given him for three months, which caused him to poop his pants in the first place.

Punk noted that after leaving the WWE and still not feeling any better weeks later, his wife and WWE Diva AJ Lee convinced him to go to her doctor who, without knowing who Punk was or having any background information, immediately looked at the lump and diagnosed Punk with a MRSA staph infection and that the doctor proceeded to squeeze the lump so hard that the puss hit the ceiling and noted that getting it cleaned out was the worst pain in his life and he needed specific medications for the infection and that none of the medication WWE had been giving him were any help and that when the doctor asked him how long he had the lump, Punk said a few months, to which the doctor told him that he should be dead. Punk talked about how badly hurt he was during his run from 2011 to 2014 in the WWE and that on two occasions, he literally came out of surgery only to find out that he was being brought back almost immediately to WWE television with no time off and that after elbow surgery, he was told that he was being brought back to the road and television to cut promos and that after knee surgery, he was told that he was being brought back in three weeks to work a TLC match against Ryback.

Punk actually described his wrestling career as a failure, as he failed to get to the main event of WrestleMania, however he’s come to terms with that, as he’s moving on to the next stage of his life and said that it was ridiculous that so many current roster members have not been in the WrestleMania main event position and talked about politicking to get to that level, but it was never about winning or being the guy and that he needed to get there so that he could learn to work at that level and get better, draw more and be an asset to the company and that he would hear he wasn’t a draw, but every chance he had, he shoved it down their f****** throats and that it all comes down to an “out of touch old man” and his decisions, an obvious reference at Vince McMahon. Punk said that he knew he had the best match at WrestleMania 29 and was praised for it, but knew he didn’t get the money that the likes of John Cena, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, The Rock and Triple H got for the show and that for anyone complaining he left the company in a lurch, he didn’t hold up the company for money and didn’t ask for anything and didn’t walk out in the middle of a storyline, noting that he was chokeslammed by Kane and was gone and that he went home for his health and sanity, but noted that he was frustrated with seeing smaller checks and not getting answers as to how the WWE Network would change the pay scale and that everyone was afraid to ask Vince McMahon, stating that even Randy Orton was coming to him asking if he knew anything.

Punk said that when the WWE fired him and issued him a contract breach, he hired a Los Angeles lawyer to go after the company to fight the breach and in the end, he got a settlement that gave him everything he asked for and more, and said that he’s just not allowed to talk about the settlement and noted that it was stupid of WWE to even advertise him for the next WWE 2K15 video game, stating that he is completely done and clear of the company and they will never, ever, have a working relationship ever again. Punk said that the company were terrified that as an independent contractor for the last 10 years that he would take them to court and ruin their way of doing business and then talked in detail about the company using the independent contractor status, stating that the WWE does concussion testing to help themselves, not the wrestlers and noted that all the money the NFL Players Union is forcing the NFL to pay for old injuries and medical concerns of players, the WWE is doing it to prevent the wrestlers from being able to say that they weren’t treated and that if WWE truly cared for the talents, then they would allow a union to be created for the talents. Punk noted that when the WWE later asked to issue a joint statement between the two, he told them in the kindest way to “f*** off”.

Punk noted that he was to star in 12 Rounds 2 while he was the WWE Champion and that when signing the paperwork, he noticed that the filming dates were the same as a WWE European tour and that Triple H told him that wasn’t the case, but he will look into it and that the next day, the company announced that Randy Orton would star in the movie, with Triple H never calling Punk to inform him of the change. Punk said that Triple H thinks he’s a piece of s*** and that it was indicative of the lack of respect that he was shown by those in the company and that wrestling Ryback took 20 years off his life as he was badly hurt working with who Punk as “steroid guy”. Punk also noted that the WWE were afraid that he was going to join TNA Wrestling, but that his lawyer told the company that Punk despises wrestling now and will never wrestle again.