CM Punk: I Was Sold On All Elite Wrestling Being An Alternative, Guaranteed Money Ruined Professional Wrestling

CM Punk is not a fan of wrestlers having guaranteed money.

CM Punk was very vocal earlier this week when he appeared on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and spoke about some topics from his time in AEW, what he dealt with, and how it led to him returning to the WWE last November.

During the conversation with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, this is what Punk had to say about believing AEW was an alternative and why he isn’t a fan of guaranteed money.

“I don’t regret saying it. I think I was catering and maybe leaning too much towards the niche audience. I was sold on AEW being an alternative to what WWE was. That’s the biggest shame to me. This is a last chance. I like competitors. I like guys being able to be like, ‘I can go over here and make X amount of money.’ That’s good for the business and good for the boys. When you’re there, guaranteed money almost ruined pro wrestling. If you had to get paid based off the house, the place would be drastically different. ‘Oh shit, this isn’t working. Do something else. Pivot.’ What is going to get people into the building? The short time I had where I was ‘in charge’ of Collision, that’s the way I did things. What did we draw here last time? Okay, my goal is to get one more ticket sold. I did that. I work incrementally.”

There are too many things I’ve done since coming back that have overshadowed whatever negative spin you want to put on anything. If I didn’t come back, I wouldn’t have met Brody King, I wouldn’t be friends with him to this day. Danhausen, Dax, Cash, Darby, Sting. I don’t want to name everyone because I don’t want people to punished any further for being my friend. So many people. I’m sure I helped somebody along the way. To me, that’s what it’s about. There is a lot of knowledge in here. I never projected that or forced it on anyone. There was that thing about, ‘he would run around and give unsolicited advice.’ Never. My time is valuable. I’m not going to run around and help people if they don’t want help. I was always a guy that would run around and ask things. Do I regret coming back? No because I get to ask questions to people who have been in it longer than me. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, what is your mindset? Obviously, my body is not going to last longer than my brain. I have way more to give to pro wrestling. Do I regret coming back? No.”

Punk will be at the commentary booth at WrestleMania 40 on night two when Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre.

h/t from Fightful.

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