CM Punk shocks WWE Universe with claims about John Cena and the locker room
CM Punk and John Cena are certified veteran WWE Superstars, and once again they find themselves on The Road to WrestleMania. The two seemingly buried any lingering drama less than one year ago. Punk just pulled another shocker on the industry with remarks on his current locker-room colleagues and Cena.
The Voice of the Voiceless and The Face that Runs the Place are arguably two of the most polarizing figures in wrestling history, and two of the greatest. They have been opponents for more than 100 matches and have teamed up on more than one dozen occasions. It's safe to say Punk and Cena share mutual respect.
Punk made interesting remarks about part-time superstars during his previous run, mainly while feuding with The Rock. Speaking to Alex McCarthy of Mail Sport for a new interview, the former AEW World Champion admitted he has a different perspective on the part-time superstar discussion than he did 10 years ago as today's schedule is a lot more limited, and it's not fair to point a finger at one person and call them out for not being around.
"A guy like John Cena, he's a busy dude. He's earned that right. He's stated that he's retiring, this is going to be his final run, so I'm less inclined to say, 'You should be here doing this, doing that.' Sometimes the tickets sell themselves when we're in these international markets and you hear John Cena retirement tour, that's going to put butts on seats," CM Punk said.
The Second City Saint reiterated how he has no issue with The Final Boss or the Cenation Leader being featured this year. Punk believes people in the current WWE locker room will have problems with the bookings, but he also sees a big potential coming out of the situation.
"John Cena doesn't necessarily need to show up every week. He's busy, he's filming a movie. I understand that, but there is a flip side to that coin. There is still a locker room full of pro wrestlers. They are the people that will get a chip on their shoulder and there will be resentment because there are people that feel, 'Oh, I'm here every week. I'm doing this, I'm doing this.' But at the end of the day, I think everybody just constantly wants to rise to the level. So along the way, yeah, we're going to poke, we're going to prod, we're going to say, 'Hey, Rock, you showed up here, how come you're not here? Why aren't you doing this?'" CM Punk said.
Punk added that he thinks the fans also do the "poking and prodding" to certain talents. He believes the WWE Universe enjoys it when they see the superstars do the same thing.
CM Punk at WWE SmackDown
CM Punk has not been officially announced for tonight's loaded WWE SmackDown in Toronto, but the RAW Superstar revealed on Instagram Stories how he was at Rogers Centre signing a stack of autographs.
Tonight's WWE SmackDown will feature the go-home build for Elimination Chamber. Punk was expected to appear at the Elimination Chamber Kickoff event, but a SmackDown appearance is always possible.