WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk spoke with GQ about various topics, including his remaining goals with the company.
Punk said, “I mean, just because it’s there, probably a Night 2 main event. Honestly, I don’t differentiate between the two nights. I think that’s just a way for people who are sad about their own lives to try to diminish something. I mean, Rock did a Night 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin did a Night 1. Who am I to say it’s not a main event? That’s just silly semantics to try to hate on somebody that you don’t like for whatever reason.”
On AJ Lee’s return to WWE and how he never pushed her towards it:
“I tried to be a fly on the wall. I would answer questions when asked and I never pushed her towards it. I would just tell her of my experiences and my point of view and I let her make her own decisions. Because a little secret about my wife: Can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do. She’s a lot like me in that respect. I just was there to answer questions and help guide her if she wanted that, and luckily, it all worked out.”
On being in the later stage of his career:
“But I also look back historically on the guys that I grew up watching, and Terry Funk to me was always Terry Funk. I don’t make any kind of [distinctions] of, like, “Oh, this is young Terry Funk or this is old Terry Funk.” To me, Terry Funk is Terry Funk. I think as a storyteller, there’s a beginning, there’s a middle, and there’s an end. Even though society will put term limits on whatever you are or whatever you do based on their own feelings, I don’t feel old. Maybe there’s some gray in my beard, but I think it’s more impressive that I’m able to operate at this level, at this age, at this late stage in my career than it is a hindrance.”
On the benefits of being older:
“And I just think that it gives me an edge and it helps me tell stories in a more sophisticated way. Am I 20? No, I’m not. Can I do the things that I could do when I was 20? No. But I can also do things at 47 that I could never do even if I was 45. There’s just so many different things that you can do and explore now. Everybody loves Wolverine, and what’s recently been the more impressive Wolverine story is Old Man Logan. Again, tying it back into the video game, there’s so many possibilities. So yeah, I think grizzled, old CM Punk is—pardon my language—f**king awesome.”
