On Tuesday, the day after CM Punk tore up a new employee contract on Monday Night Raw, GQ.com’s Tom Breihan sat down with the WWE superstar in his Chicago apartment for a candid Q&A interview. Taking a break from reading comics and snuggling with Beth Phoenix, Punk and Breihan talked for an hour about the current state of pro wrestling (as Punk calls it); how he’s made his current employer, World Wrestling Entertainment, socially relevant again; and what his plans are once his current contract is up.
Here are some of the highlights:
On why his current storyline with John Cena doesn’t happen all that often.
“This time, the genesis of it is that I’m leaving. I’m done. I’m tired. ‘What are they going to do, fire me?’ That’s been my attitude for months and months now. That finally resonated through the television screen. And that’s something that everyone in this economic world can 100% relate to.”
While John Cena and The Rock may be the biggest match to occur at next year’s WrestleMania event, Punk suggests a match between him and Stone Cold Steve Austin would be the biggest match for any wrestling company.
“I’ve thought that since I was 15. I’m straight edge. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t smoke. And that is the perfect protagonist or antagonist to Stone Cold Steve Austin, depending on how you want to spin it. It writes itself. You would have to try really, really hard to fuck that one up.”
On if Punk is surprised by the reaction he’s received as a result from his promo from Monday Night Raw a few weeks ago.
Yeah. I’d like to go out there and do that all the time, but that’s just not the case…People started emailing me and texting me. Jim Rome wants me on his show, and all these ESPN people are talking about it. Bill Simmons is writing about it. I wasn’t on the nine o’clock news or anything like that, but it seems like I made it socially relevant for the first time in a very long time.”
With Punk’s WWE tenure coming to an end, does he have plans for the future?
“I have no plans. Cabana was fired on a Friday and wrestling on a Saturday. That is not going to be me. I haven’t talked to anybody. Nobody’s contacted me. I’m positive that people will try to contact me on Monday, but I just want to sit on my couch. That’s kind of the idea. I’ve been doing this for a long time with no break. Especially over the last year, I had an elbow surgery and narrowly avoided hip surgery, so all my downtime’s been used up by rehabbing so I can get back in the ring. And I never missed a beat; I was doing commentary with my cracked-up hip. That wears on you after a while. I’m looking forward to not setting an alarm, not flying anywhere, not having a schedule. I think everyone’s dream is to do nothing. I want to have time off and not be injured. I want it to be summer vacation, where I don’t have anything to do for three months. I can do anything.”
The entire Q&A, which includes Punk’s comments on WWE Ice Cream Bars, the homosexual slur in Australia, and his highs and lows working for WWE, can be found here.
