CM Punk comments on the allegations against Vince McMahon.
Punk was a guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday. He was speaking about running into Vince McMahon at WWE Headquarters after his return, noting it was the first and only meeting they’d had. Punk quipped that things had happened, alluding to the sexual assault and trafficking allegations against McMahon. Helwani then asked Punk how he felt about the matter, and Punk said there was no way to put a positive spin on it.
“I mean, there’s no positivity there. There’s very much a — I didn’t read all of the allegations. I read text messages and I went, ‘Oh, fuck this. It’s indefensible.’ You know? And I think doing this, I’d imagined I was going to be asked about it. I think the easiest thing for people to do is to ignore it or avoid it, but man, it’s there,” Punk explained.
“And my initial, first thing out of my mouth was, ‘I’m kinda shocked at how dumb he was,’ like writing stuff down and leaving that paper trail, and it’s horrific. And I’m not — I think at this point, all of the energy should be used to somehow — I don’t even know if you can make reparations or amends — but there are victims here. So like, what CM Punk thinks about Vince, and the CM Punk / Vince relationship doesn’t fucking mean anything. All of that stuff takes a backseat. I’m more concerned with going forward, like how do those people survive after suffering all of that trauma? [That’s] my biggest concern.”
How do you say anything but no?
Does he think the pro wrestling business is better off without Vince McMahon now?
“At this point, how do you say anything but no? But yeah, the [business is better off]. Have a field day with that one. How do you say anything but, ‘Yes, the business is better without him there.’”
Punk said he didn’t know the issues with McMahon were as serious as they have been reported. He compared the situation to Chris Benoit, noting how he didn’t see that side of Benoit, just like he didn’t see that side of McMahon. However, that doesn’t mean it did not happen, and it was hard to come to terms with the shocking reality of the situation.
“It’s very, very hard to reconcile. I heard what Becky [Lynch] said [on Helwani’s show last week]. Because Vince is a father figure to a lot of people. Vince, I think, liked to foster that father figure relationship, and that’s why I think he was always fascinated with me, because I was always like, ‘Fuck you, I’ve got a dad. You’re my boss. Let’s just keep it that way.’ But it’s been wild, all that shit. It’s sad. He ruined his life. And he ruined his life, [by] ruining other people’s lives, so there’s very much a part of me that’s like, ‘We got him. Good.’ Shuffle him into the basement.”
If you use this transcription, credit the source, h/t WrestleMania and link to this post.
