CM Punk On If He Is Interested In Returning To Pro Wrestling, Not Appearing At "All In"
While CM Punk's MMA career hasn't turned out like he had hoped, Punk isn't looking to return to the business where he first made a name for himself.
Punk appeared on ESPN's The MMA Show this week to promote the third season of Netflix's Beastmaster, which he is one of the hosts of. During the interview, Punk was asked about his comments earlier this summer where he seemed to indicate that the door might be open for a pro wrestling return. Punk said that he is not interested in returning to pro wrestling, stating that nothing interests him there.
"To me that's like an escape hatch," Punk said of a pro wrestling return. "I've got season three of Beastmaster on Netflix, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we get to move forward and do a season four. Aside from all the stuff that I can talk to you about, there's all this secret stuff that I'm not allowed to talk about that I am doing too.
"It's not even a matter of not going to wrestling because I'm busy doing other stuff, there's just nothing that interests me in wrestling."
Punk added that he hasn't had any offers from any wrestling promotions since his one-sided UFC 225 unanimous decision loss to Mike Jackson in June, but noted that he's "a hard guy to get a hold of."
Punk was also asked about last week's All In event in Chicago. He said that he couldn't have been at the show even if he wanted to because he was shooting for a movie that day, but claimed that he was never made an offer to be at the show.
"I was never made an offer to be there," Punk said. "They said, 'hey, if you want to come, you should come.' I was like, 'eh, oh, OK.' It was extremely vague... it wasn't an offer."
Punk's statement contradicts what Cody Rhodes told me in an interview last month. Cody said that a "full offer" was made to Punk for the show, although it wasn't necessarily for a match.
"Matt [Jackson] actually made a full offer or full pitch for his services and I think Punk is focused on the Mixed Martial Arts element of his career," Cody said, which you can listen to in the video above at the 9:00 mark. "One of the reasons we didn't first come out and say, 'here's who we want you to wrestle,' because I think we just wanted him to be a part of the event for a lot of fans, he's captured their imagination even with the amount of time he's been gone. He has a mythical presence to them. I thought it would be good for him to connect with them, but that's me, you know?
"Nobody owns Punk but Punk, so if he wants to do Mixed Martial Arts, go for it. He was always very nice to me and helpful to me in OVW. I always looked at All In with the perspective that it's about the present and future of the industry and not really about cheap pops, even though I'm sure they'll be plenty of those on the show. Matt had reached out to [Punk] and made him a real offer. I think Punk is set on not being part of it."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The MMA Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.