CM Punk has opened up about the personal reasons behind his hiatus from WWE following WrestleMania 42.
After losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, Punk stepped away from WWE television for several months before returning to Raw earlier this month, where he defeated Sami Zayn to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Speaking with ESPN New York (see video below), Punk explained that his time away was not the result of an injury, but rather an opportunity to step back after an emotionally difficult stretch in his personal life.
“In my business, in this company… for me to be able to say that I had time off and it wasn’t due to injury or surgery is remarkable,” Punk said. “It was the first time in my career I had time off without having to get surgery or be injured. I just hung out with my wife. I had a… I’m not going to say a rough year, you know, because suffering is relative. I was World Heavyweight Champion on Raw for quite some time, and during that entire time I was champion, I had at least three or four people who were very close to me pass away.”
Punk went on to explain that he continued working through those personal losses before ultimately deciding he needed time to process everything away from the ring.
“Each time, I was at work the next day,” he said. “I didn’t talk about it publicly. I showed up partially because it helped me. Being here amongst my road family and being able to connect with the fans on that level helped me get through it, but there was still some stuff I needed to process. So, my time away was just to kind of reset. One day away from my wife is one day too many. I’ve been with her every single day, and now that I’m back I’m champ, and I’m on the road. I’m as full time as full time gets. If you’re upset that I was mourning some dead friends, I think that’s a you problem. We should celebrate people taking some time for themselves.”
Also during the ESPN New York interview, CM Punk opened up and explained exactly how WWE fans actions made him quit X/Twitter.
