As we mentioned yesterday, former WWE Champion CM Punk was a guest on this week’s Art of Wrestling podcast with Colt Cabana where he opened up on what led to his release from the WWE. Punk said that the WWE should be the happiest place to work, but they use it as this “bizarre mindf***” and said that they told him to go out to have fun and his reaction was “f*** you, this place f***ing sucks and on top of that, you’re not paying me nearly enough to do this f***ing s***”. Punk said that for people who said that he made millions, he tells them that he should’ve made ten and that’s just the f***ing way it is and that for as hard as he worked and for never being home, it was not enough.

Punk noted that his health was an issue, but then there was also the debut of the WWE Network and that he would ask for months how the Network pricing of pay-per-views would change the pay scale for him working the show and said that the WWE Network was going to change the pay scale and he was the only one with the balls to ask the questions, stating that Randy Orton was even asking him how things were going to change and that Punk didn’t have an answer, because when he would ask Vince McMahon, Vince would laugh to him and say, “we haven’t figured this out yet”, to which Punk responded telling him, “don’t you think you should be figuring this out?”. Punk said that they didn’t know, but that they should have figured it out that they know how they’re going to pay him for the pay-per-views he was about to work. Colt told him that no one else is asking WWE management questions because they don’t want to rock the boat, to which Punk responded by saying that if you do, then they will take you off house shows, RAW, SmackDown and pay-per-views so you don’t make money and that’s the way they do it. Punk said that the company doesn’t do anything to protect the wrestlers and that they do things to protect the company’s image. Punk said that he doesn’t want to come across as harsh and as if he is bashing the WWE, but they don’t let everyone know they’re doing all these fantastic things for concussions for the boys and that they’re letting everyone know so it looks good in public. Punk then brought up the NFL issues and said that the NFL is getting “f***ed in the a**” because of the NFL Players Union telling them that they need to pay up for medical issues and past injuries and concussions and the NFL is paying out their a** because of it and said that Vince McMahon doesn’t want to be doing that, which is why they’re making all the moves now regarding concussion issues. Punk said that he suffered a concussion in the 2014 WWE Royal Rumble match, the night before he walked out and said that it was obvious he had a concussion and everyone knew he had one, but WWE told him they wanted him to take a test, to which Punk told them that their test is b***s*** and that he took the test while texting Colt and listening to music on his headphones and passed with flying colors. Punk said that the WWE doctors then asked him to run the ropes in the ring, to which he told them that he just passed the concussion test, however they felt that he could still have a concussion, so he told them that their test was worthless and that he wasn’t going to run the ring like a two-week rookie in front of everyone and wanted them to determine things there and then and to diagnose if he was concussed or not. Punk said that he was doing this where he said he was fine because that’s the way he’s always been and that’s what WWE instills in you and if he didn’t work, he’d be punished and that he never had a break.

Punk then talked about being offered the 12 Rounds 2 movie and said that he would have done the movie as a way to have a break from the schedule, but since he was the WWE Champion at the time, he realized that he would have only have weekends off, but that it would have been a break and that he needed knee surgery at that point, but was still working the hectic schedule and looking forward to a break and felt that as WWE Champion, he needed to keep going and was telling Vince McMahon that he would undergo knee surgery after he dropped the WWE Championship to The Rock an would be gone, but that Vince told him that he needed Punk to do the rematch with The Rock. Punk said that he was pushing not to drop the title to The Rock and pitched for himself vs. The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania, or even defending the title in a special moment against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 as when they counted it out, the show would have fallen on the 500th day of his title reign and that he had a bunch of cool, different scenarios. Punk said that he didn’t take a lot of breaks and was at the point that he became excited when, during a European tour, his elbow was locked in a 45 degree angle and he was unable to move it more than a few inches and that the excitement was getting surgery and being able to have some time off, but every night, the company’s medical staff would have him do all these exercises where he would have to hold a heavy object up and then relax his arm and then they would straighten it and tape it up so he could go. Punk said that he got the elbow surgery on a Wednesday or Thursday, then had laser surgery on his eyes right after and then Vince McMahon called on the Friday and said that since it was just his elbow that was hurt, he could still come and cut promos and that he was back on the road after just 5 days and admitted that there was pressure from himself to deliver, because he wanted to show the WWE that no matter what, he was the best and could deliver and said that the entire time he was back on the road, he was scared that he was going to get a blood clot and die from the travel, because that’s what happened to Chris Candido. Punk then talked about being at WWE TV one day, assuming that he would cut a promo, when Michael Hayes informed him that he was wrestling and Punk said that he wasn’t because of the surgery on his eyes and that Hayes told him that he could have told someone that. Punk said that he shouldn’t be working anyways because of his elbow surgery and that Hayes told him he’s been cleared to return to the ring. Punk said that he hadn’t even gone to Birmingham, Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews and that Hayes told him to go talk to WWE’s medical doctor Chris Amann and that Amann told him that he spoke with Andrews over the phone about Punk and that Andrews was clearing him. Punk then questioned Colt on what sort of witch-doctory bs that was and said that he was going to see Dr. Andrews before he wrestled and that he wasn’t going to wrestle tonight.

Punk then talked about the Nexus debut and said that when they did debut, WWE hid the entire angle from himself and Luke Gallows so he couldn’t warn any of them to not go near his eyes, then one of them stuck their fingers in his eyes and he started smacking people and said that Gallows asked him what to do and that Punk said to just start attacking people and when they did, Ryback started saying, “but we’re going over”. Punk said that he was very mad about getting a finger stuck in his eye at the time and joked that it was karma for a time when he mocked Colt when he was accidentally poked in the eye by Ricky Reyes and said that he never felt that there was a place for him in the WWE. Colt said that at times, Punk can be an a**h*** and asked if maybe how he acted backstage is why he had that feeling and said that he loves Punk, but can see how people would react to him negatively, based on how Punk can speak to people. Punk said that there are 26 writers who have never been in a fight and if they don’t like him, they don’t want to write him and said that the Straight Edge Society was the best thing ever, but they squandered it away and said, shouldn’t they be trying to make money with everyone, not just one guy. Punk then talked about being the WWE Champion and the pressures that come with it and trying to improve everyone he worked with and questioned what would Harley Race do and that Harley was an old school guy and would tape things up and just go and that when he was trying to not drop the title to The Rock, or to make it a three-way, his entire way of looking at things was what the company had for him next and stated that he felt that Vince McMahon went into creative meetings asking what was next for John Cena and that was really all that mattered to him and noted that he didn’t want to turn heel at the end of 2012, but was told that The Rock was coming back and that they wanted a bad guy for The Rock to work with and that CM Punk was the Champion and that he could turn heel or drop the belt to Daniel Bryan. Punk said that he would rather be a heel, but it meant that they were going to cut his checks in half because he was losing his merchandise checks and at that point, he was the only person who was moving more merchandise than John Cena. Punk said that Vince told him if he turned heel, he would owe Punk one and that Punk finally said he would turn heel and asked Vince what the plan was for WrestleMania, to which Vince said it would be Rock vs. Cena II and that Punk told him there and then that was awful and began to pitch other ideas and said that if people say he was trying to be a politician, maybe he was, but it wasn’t that he was trying to politic himself into the main event saying, let me beat everyone and that he suggested that the company do a three-way with an elimination and that he would be eliminated early as the WWE Champion and that Cena and The Rock could then go one-on-one and that he would then have done the main event of WrestleMania and it wouldn’t have been such a hang-up for him anymore, but that Vince told him that The Undertaker needed someone for WrestleMania 29 and felt that Punk was the guy. Punk said that he told Vince that was okay, but what was next and that Vince had no answer and asked him what he wants. Punk said that when the WWE turned him heel, they decided that they wanted to put a heater with him and suggested The Big Show, which he shot down and then they suggested Daniel Bryan, to which Punk told them no, feeling that himself and Bryan should be kept apart like they done with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart and that the company could come back to them when they needed to put on a great match.

Punk then talked about The Shield being his idea and said that Eric Pankowski, who was the head of WWE creative at the time wanted to give Punk two guys who would be his lackies, but that Punk suggested 3 guys to make it a stable and that he went to Triple H about it and they took it to Vince afterwards and that he suggested a trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero), however the company didn’t want Ohno and suggested that they would use Roman Reigns, which Punk was fine with as the company wanted their guy in the act and that Reigns could learn under Punk, who noted that the original idea would be that The Shield would be his group, but things changed and they took other people’s ideas and that it turned into Triple H’s idea. Punk said that all the way to their debut on pay-per-view, Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins had no idea whether they were with Punk or not and that Punk’s original idea would be for them to be with him until WrestleMania and his match with The Undertaker and that they would then leave him, which would mean that he had three new guys to help and three new guys to work with on the main roster, because for him, it was all about what he was doing next and that the way WWE had it happen, it let him dead in the water after he lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania and said that the trio are doing great and he is thrilled for them all, but at the time, it annoyed him because he didn’t have anyone to work with after Mania.