"Dude, what are you doing?" - Details on the backstage reaction to CM Punk's WWE walkout
Heath Slater has recalled how some members of the WWE locker room were left confused by CM Punk’s walkout in 2014.
Punk established himself as one of WWE’s most prominent superstars during his nine years with the company between 2005 and 2014. The 42-year-old walked out before the post-Royal Rumble 2014 episode of RAW due to frustrations about injuries and his storyline direction.
Speaking in a Title Match Wrestling video, Slater disclosed what the backstage atmosphere was like following Punk’s dramatic exit.
“I’m sure [some people were happy], you know,” Slater said. “I think it was one of those things where everyone was kind of like in shock because guys that don’t have the spotlight and all that stuff, they’re all looking at it like, ‘Dude, what are you doing? You’re wrestling on top. You’ve been doing it forever. Stay there, get your money, do your thing.’”
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported this week that CM Punk is in talks about a return to wrestling. WWE officials allegedly believe the former WWE Champion is heading to AEW.
Heath Slater does not blame CM Punk for leaving WWE
Heath Slater received his release from WWE in 2020 as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six years earlier, he struggled to earn a regular spot on WWE television around the time of CM Punk’s departure.
Despite their contrasting situations, Slater said he understood why Punk decided to leave WWE.
“But, like I said, he wasn’t happy,” Slater added. “His path was going somewhere else. He didn’t wanna be there no more. I look at it as, ‘Man, why did you do it?’ But then again, for him, I’m like good for you, because that’s what he wanted to do.”
CM Punk said in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso earlier this year that WWE’s television product is “awful” right now. He added that he would be “just another guy” if he returned to the company.
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