CM Punk Explains Why He Doesn’t Have Any Regrets About Staying Away from WWE for a Decade

CM Punk remained absent from WWE for almost a decade. He has now opened up on if he has any regrets about it.

CM Punk Explains Why He Doesn’t Have Any Regrets About Staying Away from WWE for a Decade

CM Punk [via- Cageside Seats]

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CM Punk had a tremendous war of words with Roman Reigns this Monday on Raw that made their WrestleMania match official should the Chicagoan not lose his world title in the meantime. After Punk reminded Reigns of his part-time status, the ‘OTC1’ clapped back by bringing up how the ‘Second City Saint’ wasn’t even in the company for almost a decade.

The current World Heavyweight Champion was recently asked about if he has harbored any regrets for staying away from WWE that long. Speaking on the No Contest Wrestling podcast, the 47-year-old mentioned that Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company even after he walked out of WWE in 2014.

I’ll just go ahead and say it. Like, Vince was still here. I don’t think anything was ever going to change, for me at least. I could have worked with AJ a whole bunch. I could have done more with Cena. I think I did pretty good. Tribal Chief says he graciously scaled back for two years. Well, I graciously stepped back for 10, and it took him that long to become the superstar that he is. So, no. I got no regrets.

CM Punk via No Contest Wrestling podcast

Taking that into account, CM Punk stated that nothing was going to change for him, at least with McMahon at the helm. In fact, shortly after coming back to WWE in November 2023, ‘The Best in the World’ credited Vince McMahon’s ouster for paving the way for his comeback. Punk also talked about what could’ve happened had he remained a part of WWE over the previous decade or so.

‘The Cookie Master’ would’ve gotten to wrestle names like AJ Styles way more times than he ended up with. And the same goes with John Cena as well. That being said, the ‘Straight Edge Superstar’ likened his absence to Roman Reigns recently claiming that he graciously stepped aside for others to step up.

CM Punk quipped that he did so for 10 years, and it took that long for a guy like ‘The Tribal Chief’ to become the superstar that he is today. Punk concluded his answer by affirming that he has no regrets whatsoever. Circling back to the intense promo segment they had on Raw, Reigns said that WWE first ran it by him before giving Punk the call to come back.

‘The Head of the Table’ lambasted Punk for taking his wiseman away and brainwashing his cousins in exchange for Reigns letting him back in WWE.

The Anoa’i clan wrestler also took offense to the former AEW star mocking Reigns behind his back after he offered the real-life Philip Brooks a handshake like a man after the WarGames match last November. The former Bloodline boss vowed to make ‘The Best in the World’ acknowledge him at WrestleMania 42 before exiting.

CM Punk reveals if AJ Styles has actually retired from WWE

The entire wrestling community is finding it difficult to wrap its head around the fact that AJ Styles has wrestled in a WWE ring for the last time. ‘The Phenomenal One’ lost to Gunther this past Saturday at the Royal Rumble, and that was unfortunately it for the 48-year-old, as his WWE career was on the line.

AJ Styles and CM Punk
AJ Styles and CM Punk [via- WWE]

But Punk had a really interesting comment to make on Styles’ retirement when the ‘Second City Saint’ was asked on The Pat McAfee Show if AJ was actually done. McAfee noted how Styles put his gloves back on and didn’t leave them in the ring.

In his response, CM Punk admitted that even he didn’t know what that meant. ‘The Red-Headed Stepchild’, however, did have a backstage conversation with ‘The Face That Runs the Place’, which Punk said nobody is entitled to be privy to.

‘The Voice of the Voiceless’ envisioned that maybe one day, if WrestleMania went to Atlanta, which happens to be where Styles began his wrestling journey from, then that “gnarly Allen Jones” could come back for a street fight. Punk compared it to a Bruno Sammartino vs. ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage type of match from the 1980s.

The fans are eagerly awaiting the AJ Styles episode of Stephanie McMahon‘s What’s Your Story? podcast. It will be out this Thursday. McMahon has posted a teaser of what to expect from it. One could see her ask AJ why he didn’t put his gloves down and instead put them back on before heading to the back.

It would be interesting to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. There is no clear indication of Styles’ future with WWE, and he already has major interest from AEW in case he becomes available to sign elsewhere.

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