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I had a Chicago Street Fight a couple of years back in Ring of Honor that was really bloody and really violent. That is probably the closest thing to the Extreme Elimination Chamber I can think of.
I did not wake up one day and say, 'I wanna be famous.' I did not wake up and say, 'I wanna be a UFC fighter.' I woke up and said, 'I want to be successful at something I want to do. I want to fight.'
I fancy myself as being very good at Guitar Hero. I really don't play any other videogames. I kind of fell in love with Guitar Hero the first time I played it, and went out and bought a system for it.
Obviously, I carved out a pretty successful path and career for myself. But I'm kind of fascinated with, for lack of a better term, Renaissance men. And women. People who do a lot of different things.
Different people are afforded different opportunities. I've been given some awesome opportunities, and I feel that I've always knocked them out of the park. But I've always been scaled back after that.
I jumped to the WWE, and the perceived notion was I became more successful. I got to touch more people's lives and influence more people and perform in front of more people, and that was a great thing.
Straight edge is everything about a personal decision to not live my life under the influence or not being aware. I pretty much don't like anything that alters my view of reality or my perception or my grasp.
I think, at some point in my wrestling career, I took myself way too seriously, and I took the wrestling business way too seriously. It probably helped sour me on the whole process. It probably helped burn me out.
If something sucks, I've always been completely vocal about it, and I've been punished many, many times because of that. But I don't think I'd be in the spot I'm in right now if I wasn't me. I've always just been me.
Inside and outside of the ring, what you see is what you get. I'm CM Punk. I'm not trying to be something I'm not. I'm not trying to lie to the people or be fake. I'm not trying to be some crazy, outlandish character.
You know, I always like being the bad guy. It just comes more natural to me. I don't gotta smile, I don't gotta kiss babies. It's easier to tell people at airports at four in the morning that I'm not signing their stuff.
I'm not Superman. Eventually, the grind gets to you. If you're away from your friends, you're not traveling with anyone you like, and you're doing stuff that doesn't creatively stimulate you, that's when it becomes a job.
Don't let these tattoos fool you. I'm straight edge. I'm a man of great discipline; I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs... my addiction is wrestling - my obsession is competition. Discipline. My name is C...M...Punk.
I like all kinds of wrestling, I like pro wrestling, so if there's a guy I've been feuding with for over a year, and damn it, the only thing left to do is beat the crap out of each other in a steel cage, then it's time to do it.
I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs. I kick people in the face for a living. So, if that’s something you’re into — if you like watching people get kicked in the face — come see me. I’ll probably be your favorite wrestler.
People like to come up to me and tell me that I’ve got nice ink. Except these tattoos aren’t just decorations. They are declarations. Every tattoo I have tells its own story about who I am. Drug-free. Honor. And a war against the system.
There's a lot of guys in pro wrestling that just kind of have this MMA fantasy, and they never act on it. I'm acting on it. I don't want to be one of those guys who sits there and goes, 'I could have done that or I should have done that.'
For some reason, talking is easy for me. Practice does make perfect; I've been doing it for a while. Being out there in a high-pressure situation with a live audience and a live TV camera on you, it brings something out. It's very organic.
Everybody knows how to throw a punch. Not correctly - he or she might not know how to turn the wrist or know what part of the hand to hit with. But humans instinctively know to fight, whether they bite or claw or pull hair. It's an instinct.
I think it's good to have different styles, though. I think it's good to have a lucha on a show, some Japanese flavor, I think MMA is a good thing, a little bit of the hardcore and the blood and guts is good. That is what makes a show for me.
I train hard every day, you know. And some days are better than others. Sometimes I punch someone in the face and sometimes I get punched in the face. But I can deal with that outcome because it's instantaneous. It's in the moment and you can learn.
No matter how much people want to pretend that they're embarrassed by it, that they don't watch it, everybody knows about it. It's truly, I believe, one of the only art forms that America has actually given to the world, besides jazz and comic books.
Pro wrestling has always been ingrained into American culture. It was one of the first things that was ever on television, so everybody watched it. Countless people tell me, 'I got into wrestling because my grandfather watched it.' It was always there.
In pro wrestling, it's fake. People always get offended by that word. 'No, we like to say it's pre-determined.' For whatever reason, people get angry at 'fake'; 'pre-determined' eases the blow? It's fake. At the end of the day, it doesn't really mean anything.
There are always going to be detractors who will say I don't look like I'll be able to hang with Brock Lesnar. But Brock's a freak of nature, and I don't know anybody who looks like they can 'hang' with Brock Lesnar. But anyone can be choked out in seven seconds.
There's a lot of unrest. There are a lot of people who are unhappy. I don't want to say I'm their hero, but a lot of people have said that... It's like this in every job, I think. There's certain people who are afforded privileges and maybe, maybe don't deserve them.
What you've lost sight of is what you are, and what you are is what you hate. You're the 10-time WWE Champion! You're the man! You, like the Red Sox, like Boston, are no longer the underdog! You're a dynasty. You are what you hate. You have become the New York Yankees!
I hear you guys all the time talking about Daniel Bryan, trained by Shawn Michaels. One curious thing to me is, how come you guys never mention William Regal? William Regal did the real work with this young man. Shawn Michaels took $3,000 from him, that's all he ever did.
In my twisted brain, I truly believe that nobody ever really dies, as long as the people that he or she touched continue to spread their legacy. I miss Eddie Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero was a great man. So right now, I don't want to hear 'CM Punk', you know the name I wanna hear.
I mean when was the last time we had one of these contract signings... that didn't end... in some sort of horrible physical calamity? So if you wanna cut to the chase, you know, we can flip the table over, we can all start beating each other up or we can at least make this entertaining.
A whole bunch of people told me that if I went to WWE, I'd never make it. But it's like I never heard them. I never listened. To me, I'm exactly where I belong. I feel like I was born to do this. Whatever your walk in life is, you pick what you want to be, then go ahead and be the best one.
I don't measure myself against my coaches, I don't measure myself against my teammates. If I'm doing jiu-jitsu for sport, I don't measure myself against the guy I'm rolling with or whatever belt he is or how many stripes he has on his belt. I measure myself every day against the guy I was yesterday.
I've never worn a dress shirt that's been comfortable. I've always just worn dress shoes. On more than one occasion, I've heard that a champion should dress like a champion. But I'm a champion because of who I am. Who I am is not that guy. If everybody wears three-piece suits, everyone looks the same.
I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t use drugs. That may be boring for some people, but that’s just me. That’s how I live my life. That stuff never appealed to me and I never understood getting so messed up that you can’t even walk home or remember the previous night. I choose to live my life without it.
Any praise goes to my coaches and my teammates. I have the easy part of waking up and going to the gym. They're the ones that have to break my bad habits and teach me new things. They're literally my everything. In my personal life, it's my wife, and in my professional life, it's my coaches and my teammates.
I'm Straight Edge for me, so what everyone else is doing, it doesn't matter. I've never been pressured to drink or smoke or anything by any of the boys, and if anything, a lot of them like me because I'm always the designated driver. I'm the one who makes sure everyone gets home alright and I'm happy doing that.
The only thing I took advantage of at Extreme Rules was an opportunity to cash in my Money in the Bank contract, which I did successfully, well within the rules. You know, Jeff knows this, you know this, the fans know this: nowhere on that contract does it say, under any circumstances, 'Do not cash in on Jeff Hardy.'
There was a long time in my professional life that I was not happy, and there was nothing anyone else could have done to make me happy. There was a big stretch where I was very sick, and I was very hurt. Those charged with taking care of my health and well-being weren't very good at their jobs. Or maybe they were too good at their jobs.
I think it's because I'm real. Inside and outside of the ring, what you see is what you get. I'm CM Punk. I'm not trying to be something I'm not. I'm not trying to lie to the people or be fake. I'm not trying to be some crazy, outlandish character. I'm real and they appreciate that. Everything I say, it comes from the heart. It's all real.
CM has always stood for one thing: Chicago Made. Chick Magnet? That's preposterous. Girls don't like me. I was born and raised in Chicago. The city made me. Punk is just because I've always been a smart-mouthed, wise-ass punk. I still am. I was the guy, if a bunch of football players were messing with one of my friends, I'd walk over there and spit in their face.
My dad was an alcoholic and my mother...we didn't have any money and I grew up really poor. I watched them spend all of their money on cartons of cigarettes and stuff like that and I didn't understand how if we were broke and we couldn't afford Christmas presents, why could you smoke all of those cigarettes? It's not like they are making you better...they are killing you. It seemed real idiotic to me.
I would love to do both but I think I believe there's a thing as overexposure and I think people will get sick of me real quick. I kind of basically looked at it as my retirement plan now. That's definitely something I can do when I'm not wrestling anymore. And believe it or not - this sounds horrible - but it was really easy for me. I would really love to do both. I'd love to wrestle and do commentary, I think that would be awesome.
I am the best wrestler in the world. I've been the best ever since day one when I walked into this company, and I've been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. That's right, I'm a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar, and he split just like I'm splitting, but the biggest difference between me and Brock is I'm going to leave with the WWE Championship.
A lot of people in the WWE try to paint themselves as outlaws and rebels and I really honestly believe I'm the only one left. I always do what I want and I never get any flack for it. I don't know if it's because they know they're not gonna win, or it's not worth fighting me over. Plus I don't see what the big deal is about me wearing a Cabana shirt. The guy should be working there, first of all, and it's promoting my friend. I don't see what the big deal is.
If I... if I competed in Bruno Sammartino's era, I'd have been champion for 20 years, too. No, I'd have been champion for 30 years. Because wrestling one night a month at Madison Square Garden is easy. You never see a Hulk Hogan wrestle TLC matches against a superstar like Ryback. Because he had it easy. I wrestle physically demanding matches on free television, week in and week out. So much that my one year equals 30 of theirs. And I have attained this success, not... not because of you. I am successful not because of you. I am successful in spite of you.