While speaking with Complex News, CM Punk reflected on the emotionally charged decision to incorporate the death of Paul Bearer (real name William Moody) into a storyline with The Undertaker heading into WrestleMania 29.
Punk acknowledged the sensitivity of the angle, noting that while he knew Bearer professionally, others—particularly Undertaker—had a far deeper personal connection to him. That reality led Punk to proceed with caution.
“It was heavy because while I knew Percy [Paul Bearer], I didn’t know him or have a connection to him like a lot of people in the company did, like Undertaker did. So I was careful to make sure, and his family members — I think his son signed off on it — because I was like, I don’t want to do this unless everybody’s okay with it.”
At the time, Punk was firmly positioned as a villain on WWE programming, which made him hesitant about whether such a deeply personal real-life tragedy should be woven into the narrative.
“Because at that time, you know, my deal was being a bad guy and trying to just get people to pay to see me beat people up. So I wasn’t sure if they were going to be agreeable to everything, because once you give me the green light, I’m like, ‘are you sure about this? It’s going to be pretty heavy.’”
Punk said his concerns were eased after hearing from people who were especially close to Bearer, who felt the late manager would have appreciated the tribute.
“And I was told by people that were super close to him that he would have loved it, you know, so I can just go by their word. But yeah, that’s one of those things. It’s like it’s a privilege and it’s an honor to be respected enough to be handed this gift, almost. It’s a shame that he died, obviously.”
He concluded by explaining why the angle resonated with him creatively, highlighting professional wrestling’s unique ability to blend reality with storytelling.
“To me, that’s the magic of what we do — we can pivot and use real-life stuff and kind of blur the line. I was grateful that I was allowed to be able to do that.”
The WrestleMania 29 storyline remains one of the most emotionally charged arcs of Punk’s WWE career, remembered for both its intensity and the respect shown to Paul Bearer’s legacy.
