CM Punk Reveals His Post-Career Purpose

CM Punk has no interest in mapping out a retirement date — and at 47 years old, heading into his WrestleMania 42 World Heavyweight Championship main event, he is more focused on what he can give to the next generation than on when his own career ends. Speaking on ALL THE SMOKE: Unplugged, Punk reflected on a career that defied nearly every external prediction placed on him and described a current role that he views as carrying responsibilities well beyond his own performances.

“A guy like me who looks the way I do and acts the way I do and talks the way I do, I think, was in a way never supposed to make it to WWE. Okay, he made it, but he’s never going to be champion. Okay, I was champion. Okay, well he’s never going to be the poster boy. I made it to heights that very few people thought I was going to make it. I think when push comes to shove I was definitely maybe one of the only people who believed that deeply and that truly.”

CM Punk Credits Himself With Helping Eliminate WWE’s Hazing Culture and Says He Can Perform While Also Developing Talent

Punk identified two areas where he believes he has made a lasting impact on the broader WWE environment — cultural and developmental. “A lot of the bullying and the hazing and all that stuff has gone away. And I think I was a big catalyst to help that. Instead of trying to be a hard-ass, I was the one inviting people: ‘No, no, you come here, sit here. If anybody messes with you, you let me know.'” He also positioned himself as a rare performer capable of excelling at both in-ring competition and talent development simultaneously — a combination he considers genuinely uncommon. On the retirement question specifically, Punk was characteristically direct. “I don’t put a timetable on it because I know it could end like that, any day. Everyone keeps telling me, ‘Hey man, you don’t got to do this.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I get it. I don’t have to do it, but I have to do it.’ I don’t know how many of these I have left in me, but man, I’m going until the wheels fall off.” Punk defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns on WrestleMania 42 Night Two on April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.