CM Punk opens about how he feels watching some of his peers retire in WWE.
Over the last year, the wrestling world has bid farewell to the in-ring careers of AJ Styles and John Cena, both of whom hung up their boots at the age of 48. As he now approaches 48 himself, CM Punk could have potentially been thinking about doing the same. Instead, he views their retirements as motivation to extend his career beyond that point.
“We watched Cena retire, we watched AJ Styles retire. I feel like everybody’s now looking at me, like, ‘Oh, when are you going to retire?’” Punk said in a behind-the-scenes exclusive with WWE “But guys like me and Sami [Zayn], who came up the same way and started on the indies, were told no, said, ‘Watch this.’ We’re told, ‘You’ll never it make it here.’ Made it here. We’re told, ‘Well, you’re never going to be anything.’ Became something. Then told, ‘You’re never going to be champion.’ Became champion. That says a lot, not just for me but for him.
“You’d have to ask him, I’m not putting words in his mouth but I think he would agree that we’re in a foxhole to some extent. It’s about the guy next to you and it’s about the kids coming up. I am at the point where I’m watching my contemporaries retire. It almost keeps me motivated to say, ‘Well, you know what, I’m still here.’ And I feel like I’m operating on that high level. I feel like I’ve never been better. Why would I step away?”
Since returning to WWE in November 2023, Punk has added three more world titles to his resume, including the Undisputed Championship. As Punk alluded to, he bested Sami Zayn, a fellow former veteran of the indies, on the July 6 edition of WWE Raw to gain the title. Looking ahead, “The Second City Saint” is now scheduled to defend it against Cody Rhodes at WWE SummerSlam.
RELATED: CM Punk’s WWE Title Defense for SummerSlam Made Official on SmackDown
