CM Punk addresses pro-wrestlers potentially forming a union.
The former AEW superstar spoke on this topic during a recent interview on 670 The Score, where he explained why a union has never happened in the industry and why it will never happen. Punk states that the reason a union has never been formed is that it requires wrestlers to stick together and that never happens.
For professional wrestling, yeah, wrestlers should 100% have a union. I’ll always say this, and I mean it in the most loving way; wrestlers will never unionize because wrestlers are stupid and selfish. That’s just the way it is. There is always going to be somebody else around the corner that wants what you have or possibly doesn’t want you to have what you have and they will do whatever the promoter wants you to do for less money. That’s unfortunate. The boys never stick together.”
Punk later states that the wage gap disparity is a big reason why a wrestling union doesn’t exist, and that there is always a wrestler willing to take someone’s spot for less money.
I think it’s a lack of places to work. It’s really a wage gap disparity, it’s a class war. When your boss is a billionaire and you don’t want to rock the boat — this isn’t in wrestling, this applies to anything. More often than not, people will want to keep their head down, not get in trouble, and just go about their day. For better or worse, people have mouths to feed. There are people with kids, families, taking care of other people, and they can’t afford to lose their job. Fortunately, for me, I’ve never been that guy. I’m always like, ‘I don’t need the money. This is wrong and I get to tell people it’s wrong.’ I don’t think the platform I have is worth anything if I don’t speak from the heart about issues that I feel are important.
Despite doing a ton of research Punk once again reiterates that a union in wrestling will forever be a dream because wrestlers choose not to stick together.
I have researched. Probably not as extensively as I should if I was going to act on this. I’m just me. There is strength in numbers. If it were to ever happen, just like it happened any other time people have risen up and created a union or strived for better working conditions for workers, it has to be a group of people. People have to stick together, and wrestlers are just never going to stick together. It’s sad.
Elsewhere in the interview, Punk was asked point blank if he’ll be appearing at WWE Survivor Series in Chicago. You can read what he said here.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)
