CM Punk On Art Of Wrestling

[Damian Rey]

Is...is that BNG on that podcast?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Kevin Scampoli & Ryan Van Vleet. Don't think so.

[Ruien]

The thing I found funny was when Colt asked Punk if there was anyone in the locker room who could say fuck you to Vince. He stated that he did, Cena did, and sometimes Orton. But in the whole interview he was just doing what Vince wanted and pressured him into.

[Nark Order]

The point was that he was a company guy until the requests were unreasonable, then he said "fuck you."

[Ruien]

But he didn't then because he claims he was suspended and then fired right?

[Nark Order]

He defended himself several times before his firing to try to get a handle on the situation but the requests kept getting more unreasonable as time progressed. There came a point where he said he was done. That's one thing I'm not with Punk on here though. He keeps driving home the fact at he was fired. He was fired because there's no reason to have somebody on payroll if they refuse to work. That part is on him.

Everything that led to him getting fed up seems fairly legit. The medical stuff is inexcusable for a company that is now priding itself on performer safety and the political stuff still holds weight no matter how whiny you think he is. He was in the best position out of anybody in the last 10 years or so to be elevated to the top position and that can be backed up with financial evidence. No matter how whiny and self-serving he seems at points in the interview, he is absolutely correct. And it seems like he was minorly angry about the spotlight of being "the guy" but more angry that he and WWE missed out on a gigantic payday because of their incompetence. I'm with him.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon Garbage.

"I can't masturbate to that video because those two guys aren't blowing CM Punk enough. Garbage."

[#1-norm-fan]

I remember half-joking around with friends during Survivor Series about Kane seemingly having a second head coming out of his lower back.

Pretty fucked if it's another Punk situation and WWE is brushing it off. Kane's gotta be smart enough to say "fuck you guys I'm getting a second opinion" though, right?

[Ruien]

IF that was going on with Kane I am 100% certain it has been dealt with now.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I haven't read this thread in an effort to avoid spoilers, but has it been taken down? When I click on the link on Colt's site, it gives me an error message.

[Ultra Mantis]

The site hosting his podcast couldn't cope with all the increased traffic, it's still on youtube and iTunes.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Good look, my dude.

[Big Vic]

Originally Posted by Narcissus He keeps driving home the fact at he was fired. He was fired because there's no reason to have somebody on payroll if they refuse to work. That part is on him.

There is no reason to work if they are not paying you.

[GD]

[Damian Rey]

I don't recall punk specifically naming any one podcast when making that comment about them. I could see if Jericho feels guilty, but if not blatantly mentioned or knowing he never asked him to come on post Rumble why bother to post a video?

[XL]

If I remember correctly; Punk didn't specifically say anybody had directly asked him to come on a podcast. He said people were asking about the situation so that they could get a scoop. Guess he feels Jericho wasn't being genuine when he text him in the aftermath of walking out. We'll never really know if Jericho was fishing for juicy gossip, or if Punk's penchant for thinking the world is against him reared it's ugly head.

[Nark Order]

It has now come to light that Former WWE Superstar Bob Holly also experienced a similar scenario which he wrote about in his book "The Hardcore Truth" revealing on the day of Eddie Guerrero's death he discovered a bump on his underarm and WWE’s doctor Rios told him that he had a staph infection that spread to his forearm and he would need hospitalization. John Laurinaitis, who was the Vice President of Talent Operations at the time was told about this but insisted that Holly was needed on the overseas tour. Holly said "If I’d refused to go, they would have probably fired me. Maybe that’s how Eddie had felt." During the tour Holly's arm had swollen to twice it's normal size when they got to Germany and Dr. Rios tried to drain the infection but unbeknown to him it had already spread to the bone leading to Holly's hospitalization and the revelation that he had MRSA. Holly noted that surgery didn't work and he was put on Vancomycin, a last resort antibiotic which if it didn't work his arm would have been amputated. Holly said: “That man [Laurinaitis] is the reason you ended up in the hospital and nearly lost your arm.” Holly added: “Because they’d gone against Dr. Rios’s orders, the company was very liable and they knew that they had set themselves up for a huge lawsuit. I could tell because they were kissing my ass the whole time I was off, telling me not to worry about anything and that they’d get me anything I needed.”

Jesus

[Damian Rey]

Good Christ.

[Ruien]

AT LEAST that wasn't the doctor being a complete idiot and not realizing what was on Holly. May have to boycott WWE and not let promote it to the little one.

[Hanso Amore]

Wow the Hhh shit was good

[GD]

Originally Posted by MatthewAllenHanso Wow the Hhh shit was good

Yo Jimmy! Hit me with that HHH shiiiiiiiiit...

[Big Vic]

Vince McMahon addressed CM Punk’s comments from last week while on the Stone Cold Podcast on WWE Network Monday night. He apologized for firing CM Punk on his wedding day, saying that it was a “coincidence” that Punk got his severance papers that day. McMahon said that Punk lacks communication skills and is a “loner” and that he hopes that he and Punk will be on the same page again sometime in the future and work together again. Vince said he did not listen to the whole CM Punk podcast but heard about some of what was said. McMahon said he only wants what is best for business and would be open to working with Punk again.

[owenbrown]

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/899...t-now.html?p=1

[drave]

Holy Ad spam Owen..... posting in quotes to save some poster's PCs.

I am sitting here at 3 AM in the morning, shaking my head. With all the madness regarding CM Punk speaking out about his frustrations with the WWE machine and explosion that followed his interview with Colt Cabana on Cabana's podcast, the one thing that I thought would actually outrage wrestling fans last Thursday the most, never actually did. If CM Punk hadn't walked away when he did, chances are the man would be dead. Punk, if his version of the story is to believed - and it certainly appears it should be, as when the hell does anyone face WWE's legal team head-on and live to tell the tale without a gag order? - alerted WWE's doctor on three different occasions about a lump Punk discovered in his back. By the third occasion, the lump was purple and hurting, yet his request to "cut this thing open" was turned down because he had to go wrestle for up to an hour in the Royal Rumble. Then, after the Rumble, a concussed Punk demanded it be removed and was told he'd have to be on medication first and it was his concussion talking that he wanted it out now. Of course, based on the timeline of the story, Punk had already been dealing with the lump, had been medicated to the point he sh** himself on national TV, concussions, injuries, etc. dating back to the European tour, which was November 2013. That's two months of Punk working hurt, half-broken from injuries, squatting in corners just trying to "will himself" into getting back into the ring during tag team matches (as he explained on his return appearance on Cabana's podcast, which was released just a few hours ago) and dealing with an undiagnosed staph infection that was coursing through his body. Unable to sleep, unable to eat, unable to train properly, is it any wonder Punk kept getting injured? No one reading this is an idiot. The readership here especially knows how dangerous and painful professional wrestling is. You also know how celebrated the talents who have that finesse in the ring with the crisp timing and the ability to make others better are amongst fans like yourself. Punk was certainly one of those personalities, and perhaps even more celebrated than most, because he was the first "indy guy/ROH guy/whatever" to break through the mold and become an international celebrity - but by the end of his run, sickness and illness meant that Punk was playing the role of a stunt driver who was navigating hairpin turns in a car with no breaks inside a dark fog while his arms were tied behind his back. We all know the story of what happened. Punk walked the day after the Rumble. He disappeared. He later revealed he was suspended, fired (great wedding present, by the way) and eventually learned he was actually suffering from a staph infection. "You should have died," was the comment Punk repeated from the doctor that treated him and at the very least, saved Punk from a scary hospital stay and indeed, at the worst, Punk's life. The reality however, is that by walking away, CM Punk, saved his own life. Imagine if you will, Rod Serling style, a world where Punk sucked it up and kept working, concussed and sick. Sure, we get our CM Punk vs. Triple H feud and Punk kicks out of the Pedigree and gets the win with the Pepsi Plunge (my column, my fantasy booking). He gets more money, but how much more damage has he put into his body? How many other concussions would he have suffered? How many other issues with knees and elbows and shoulders and ribs? Most importantly, how long does that staph infection go before the sack on his back bursts and Punk has staph coursing through his bloodstream? How long before CM Punk, literally, drops dead for professional wrestling? CM Punk, the 14 year old straightedge skater kid who pulls himself out of the Chicago streets to become a huge sensation and millionaire, dead. It could have easily happened. CM Punk, wrestling tragedy because he put the business before himself. Some of that comes from pressures put on your by management. Some comes from within because you are trying to prove you are the best in the rat race and that you deserve the money, the attention, the position and really, the attention of the boss that is putting the pressure on you to begin with. Don't believe me? Let's take a quick journey, just off the top of my head. Bob Holly, in his autobiography, goes into great detail about how he nearly lost his arm to a staph infection because WWE's doctors didn't properly diagnose it and John Laurinaitis pushed him to go on a tour of Europe because "he was needed." Holly ended up working meaningless battle royals and undercard matches but he was "needed." He was in pain every night and when he returned home, nearly lost the arm, was told the WWE doctor was responsible for him nearly losing the arm and ended up out of action for a long time before returning - and that was only after the last ditch effort to treat the infection, which had spread to the bones in his arm, worked. Had it not, amputation, caused undeniably by his decision to go do what his job asked him and put taking bumps over his own health. For all of his insane antics and claims, Kurt Angle has long-claimed that he requested time off to deal with personal issues and was denied by Vince McMahon. One crazy version of that story that is often shared by friends of Angle is that Angle was told that he was an Olympic gold medalist and if he could win the medal with a broken neck, he could lick his issues while on the road. Whether that is true or not, I cannot tell you, but consider those stories passed around for the last decade and compare them to Punk's stories about being called to come back to work early, literally as he's walking out of a hospital. The anesthesia hasn't worn off, but we need you in a TLC match. Then there's the worst case scenario, Eddie Guerrero. When poor Eddie dropped dead in a hotel room, his wife told WWE.com that he had been so "road tired" in the weeks leading up to his passing. Bob Holly in his book described it as basically WWE working Guerrero to death, including a depressing scene that literally stayed in the forefront of my brain since I read the book - Guerrero, in so much pain that he's laying on a trainer's table, unsure of whether he has to go to the bathroom or not. Think about that level of pain. Think about that level of commitment to drag yourself out and go shimmy your shoulders as you play "Latino Heat." "You should have died," the doctor told CM Punk. Eddie Guerrero did...and out of that death came the WWE Wellness Policy. People have knocked it and criticized it but one thing you can't deny is that it has helped and the WWE world is far better with it, then without it - but it's not a perfect system...and the Punk situation shows how far from perfect it truly is. I've seen a lot of people criticize Punk for "not getting a second opinion." If you have a doctor that is supposed to be who you go to and is working for you, you are going to assume that person knows what they are talking about. That's why they work for WWE right? Then consider here is Punk, concussed at least part of the time, medicated, injured, no appetite and exhausted. In the midst of that WWE grind, why would he even think to doubt? When would he have the TIME to doubt? He's trapped on the wrestling treadmill, just trying to live up to the reputation and work ethic that's made him his name while also living up to what's required of him by WWE. You listen to the doc. It's not like these sort of issues don't have happen across the scope of life. Jonathan Larson, a well liked playwright and composer went to an emergency room complaining of pains in his chest. He was told it was flu or stress and sent home. Several days later, he dropped dead of an aortic dissection, which was missed. The night Larson died, his musical "Rent" debuted. It went on to become a Broadway smash, a feature film and changed the entire Broadway community. Larson never got to experience any of that, because of an error made when he sought out help. He was dead at 36 years old. The same age CM Punk is now. Punk sought out help and no matter the cause, an error could have been the cause of yet another wrestling tragedy. Luckily, CM Punk gets to be a success story, however. He, thanks to his wife telling him to go to her doctor, was able to get healthy again. He, unlike Larson or Guerrero, gets to go on and experience what's going to be next in his life. He gets to succeed and fail and live off the money and the legacy and the brand he's built for himself. Comic books, acting, writing, kids, grandkids, whatever his life is going to bring for him. That's awesome. But no one should be deluding themselves for a second - CM Punk was almost another pro wrestling tragedy and just because he narrowly avoided crashing while making that hairspin turn; just because he kicked out at two - doesn't mean that the wrestling business should be saying "Whew!", ignoring it, and moving on to the next story. What pro wrestling should be doing is getting pissed that someone who carries none of the excuses of "He used steroids/painkillers/HGH/drugs, etc." could have ended up in the same place as a lot of other talents. Punk didn't have those demons and he still could have dropped dead. That in itself should be enough to make WWE re-evaluate everything they do to protect the wrestlers and make sure it's enough. I'm not saying WWE will always do everything right and there will never be mistakes. No one will be able to avert every tragedy. No one. But, when that tragedy could easily have been tied into mistakes (accidental or otherwise) that can be traced to the very system designed to assist and help WWE wrestlers, that should be enough to piss off WWE management. The pressure to perform will always be there...but the pressure to perform while the same medical doctors who are protecting your best interests are telling you it's OK to perform, while they are also working to make the company happy? Now things start getting complex and you start to wonder where priorities lie and things start to get twisted...and THIS is exactly why WWE needs to really examine the system, because it needs to keep evolving so something like the Punk situation never happens again. Maybe the CM Punk issue was just, genuinely, some mistakes. Maybe it was, as Punk colorfully claimed, "laziness." Maybe it's a mixture of reasons, but at the end of the day, the man could have died from what happened. WWE needs to see what led to things getting to that point. The last thing they can afford in the era of PG programming is another wrestling tragedy. In all the talk of Punk vs. WWE and apologizing and wedding day terminations, etc., I really, truly hope that someone working in the Stamford offices or Dr. Joseph Maroon in Pittsburgh or just someone with a voice in the process and some common sense is looking at all this from outside the WWE bubble and realizing that medically, they pretty much failed CM Punk and he was almost a corpse on their watch. Then I hope that person has the courage to speak up about it. If someone doesn't voice this and WWE doesn't look into things (and again, this is a complex issue) and evaluate what the hell happened, then CM Punk's other claims that WWE are only really trying to protect themselves against future claims so they don't end up in the same position the NFL is currently in, well, then they look pretty spot on...that's pretty damn depressing. If Punk is right, not only woukld WWE have lost CM Punk, but they also potentially lose the chance to protect the next Punk......and that's why I'm sitting here, shaking my head at 3 AM in the morning, hoping that Punk isn't right, but fearing that he is. And, to make matters worse, a week later, I've yet to see anyone voice that concern...so really, for all those bumps and all those bruises and all that talk of how he was a quitter, how concerned was anyone that CM Punk nearly worked himself to death? How concerned were you? CM Punk is a damn lucky man. He escaped like Indiana Jones from the Temple of Doom out of professional wrestling. I however, remain worried for the next guy who won't be lucky. They may not walk away. They might instead be left in the ground.

[Fignuts]

The people backstage who see Punk's booking complaints as "sour grapes" are missing the point, I think. Yes, he was in an enviable position in the company, but with the momentum he had, he could have been so much more.

Just because you're a top guy doesn't mean you can't be booked badly and can't be upset about it.

[owenbrown]

@drave

https://adblockplus.org/

[Big Vic]

Originally Posted by Fignuts The people backstage who see Punk's booking complaints as "sour grapes" are missing the point, I think. Yes, he was in an enviable position in the company, but with the momentum he had, he could have been so much more. Just because you're a top guy doesn't mean you can't be booked badly and can't be upset about it.

Punk might feel the same way if he heard Cena complaining about losing to Lesnar.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Yeah but that was the main event. Punk had one main event as the WWE Champion as a face. John Cena had the night off as a story line injury from Kane attacking him for not being hateful.

[Shisen Kopf]

Originally Posted by owenbrown http://www.pwinsider.com/article/899...t-now.html?p=1

If I knew what trolling was, I'd say that might be trolling. But honestly, what's trolling??

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Just like how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop: The world may never know.

[drave]

Originally Posted by owenbrown @drave https://adblockplus.org/

Sorry, I don't like the idea of sending network info to 3rd party apps that can (if they want) access other data.

Also:

http://tpwwforums.com/showthread.php?t=127919

[owenbrown]

ok fine deal with your 2839523432051257237094901735103470 popups

[drave]

I just will not go to said site, it is easier.

Enjoy the day when the faux-trojan programming that goes into AB+ steals your dataz.

[Bad News Gertner]

Thanks for ruining my computer Owen.

[Fignuts]

Way to fucking go, Owen.

[Emperor Smeat]

Part 2 of the Punk podcast - https://soundcloud.com/coltcabana/ao...m-punk-returns

More stories and "dirt" from Punk than Q/A stuff since according to Colt his email service couldn't handle all the questions being sent in.

Originally Posted by owenbrown http://www.pwinsider.com/article/899...t-now.html?p=1

Grantland's Masked Man recently wrote an article talking mostly about the medical stuff from the first podcast. Also did a quick comparison to the NFL and their own health issues that went public.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/cm...estlers-union/

[Shadrick]

Originally Posted by Vito Cruz It baffles me how often WWE seem to be right on the brink of creating a new star only to just kinda fizzle out and shunt them back to the midcard after the end of a program. In the past 5 years WWE has just had a terrible time with trying to find guys who stick near the top of the card. I'm not saying these guys would have been Orton/Cena level...but surely they could have at least found a few guys to be perennial "believably plug them into a 2-3 month title program on a dime" guys. -Kofi Kingston was over as fuck in 2009, pinned Orton AND Punk at Survivor Series, beat the shit out of Orton in MSG. Then he screwed up a move, Orton threw a tantrum, the program ended and Kofi has been decidedly a midcarder ever since. -Jack Swagger beat Orton mostly cleanly in a feud for the World Heavyweight Title, they seemed to actually be invested in making him an important character, but then Kane and Taker's 10,000th feud took over on SmackDown and Swagger went to Superstars. -Wade Barrett could have been solidified as a main event player during the Nexus angle and possibly could have even faced Cena at WrestleMania. Instead Cena squashed the Nexus in short order, killed Barrett on PPV, and Barrett went off to SmackDown to tread water for ages. Yes he did pick up a couple of big injuries along the way and I LOVE the Bad News Barrett character that resulted but I'd be very surprised if he ever got higher than IC Title range. -Sheamus won the WWE title twice within a few months of being on the main roster, yet he never came close to feeling like "the guy". They gave him another shot with the World Heavyweight Title and a great feud with Bryan but then the brand split ended and his title officially became a midcard belt and he's been in the midcard ever since. Of the guys on this list I think he's a heel turn away from being back to believable main event status but right now WWE seem insistent on keeping him a face. -Alberto Del Rio looked like he'd be a big deal, but he failed numerous times on winning the World Heavyweight Title after his "destiny" angle. Had a shitty WWE Title run for a month. Eventually just became another guy, won the World Heavyweight Title but again only after the split ended and it was a midcard belt. Already has been vocal about the lack of creative direction from his time in the company. -Ryback's case is well documented. Put aside the talk of him being stiff, beefs with Punk, etc. The guy looked like he was going to be fucking huge and they just didn't strike when the iron was hot. His heel run was awful. Injury was a blessing in disguise as it seems they're giving him another chance as a big time face but it remains to be seen where things go. -Dolph Ziggler is another guy who the crowd seemed interested in who could have been stepped up but again he only won the World Heavyweight Title after it was devalued, and he's been in the same midcard spot. Maybe the Survivor Series ending could be the start of something big for him but I think he was just the most logical guy to win the match more than anything else. -Mark Henry could have been the top heel in the company had they kept him going as he was in the summer of 2013. Even losing to Cena at MITB 2013 wouldn't have mattered. Imagine if he was one of the Authority's top guys once Bryan won the belt? Would have made for an interesting David vs. Goliath deal. Instead they abruptly turned him face and now he's already heel again a year later. He's pretty much in the same spot as Big Show at this point. -Cesaro never even got a shot at the top. The guy was absurdly over on the heels of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Probably should have turned the night after. But even then, pairing him with Heyman could have made a lot of sense and set up a big face push down the line once Heyman bailed on him for Lesnar. Instead they split ways with little explanation offered and he's now fallen into the "hell of a hand" role that history suggests he's not likely to recover from. Again...I'm not saying that ALL of these guys could have become top level guys. There were always going to be a couple that flaked out or couldn't stick and settled into the midcard. But most of them pretty much had their legs cut out from underneath them before they could really show that they belonged. There's no reason a couple of these guys couldn't be at a point where they could go into a title program and no one would bat an eye. More realistic options near the top of the card = more possibilities for booking rather than needing to go to Cena vs. Orton as the default "big match". In spite of all of this, WWE still has plenty of guys that COULD be main event players if given proper direction. Seth Rollins is excellent, as is Dean Ambrose. Roman Reigns seems to have the backing of creative, and hopefully he can come in like a house of fire when he returns. And this may be slightly controversial but I still think Bray Wyatt can be a permanent top of the card heel still, I don't think him jobbing to Cena is going to be his legacy. They also seemed to be trying to make Daniel Bryan a permanent fixture at the top (in spite of the dumb Kane feud) but unfortunately with his injuries being so major I'm not sure they'll risk putting him near the top again. It remains to be seen. Whatever, that's enough of my Noid post for now. Kinda depressing.

Before I read your post, I literally fired off every single one of these names, almost in this order, referring to the times they've missed creating a new star.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

This is the logical extension of WWE being more about the brand than the people who make it up.

CM Punk said it best by calling himself a spoke on the wheel. When he was in his long reign he called himself no longer a spoke but instead the wheel. He still was only just a spoke on the wheel though.

The concept of "The Man" is somewhat outdated except for Cena.

It might get better once there is a full-time champion as Heavyweight Champion. All of these guys failed to get to a top position because there was more than one championship. It all didn't fall on them to pull the weight. Even though it's an outdated concept it sometimes can get traction for awhile.

[whiteyford]

Never got the issue with having two separate brand titles, only that Raw was always going to be presented as the flagship show and its title the premiere one, if they'd both been booked strongly and Smackdown wasn't continually raped of talent and slowly turned into a Raw highlight show it could have been a boon.

[Hanso Amore]

I never bought them playing smackdown as a lower brand. It was just less viewed but they always went out of their way to book Smackdown as stronger than raw and their champions closed out MANY of the PPVs