WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk spoke with Kevin Clark of ESPN about various topics, including which football star he would choose to become a WWE superstar.
Punk said, “I mean, more recently it’s Marshawn Lynch, I think. But here’s a little fun wrestling history for you. Back before the NFL became the NFL. Before guys were making these ridiculous contracts and huge money, wrestling was more lucrative. Wrestling and boxing were really the only two sports in America that you could make this extravagant living. And guys like Wahoo McDaniels, Ernie Ladd, they played football, right? And they left football because they got paid more money to wrestle. Now, obviously things have changed. It’s a little bit different now. But I just — I gotta highlight those studs, like an Ernie Ladd and a Wahoo. Guys who legitimately did it, you know what I mean? They played the hard-nosed tackle NFL football, and they became pro wrestlers. But if I’m just strictly talking about like modern times, I think Marshawn Lynch is probably the best bet. Just because he has that personality.”
On the most badass wrestler he’s ever seen:
“Harley Race. I mean, the toughest man that I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He had that, what they call the the tendon strength, where he could shake your hand and break it. I just — just the toughest guy I’ve ever been around. The stuff that I saw, the lore, the legends of Harley and everything, he lived up to it, meeting him. He was a tough SOB.”
