CM Punk 'Cried For Help' In Final Days With WWE
It's been nearly four-and-a-half years since CM Punk walked out of the WWE, and the former World Heavyweight Champion's departure from the ring continues to be one of the most talked-about stories today.
Punk left the WWE for a number of reasons in 2014. Among them, he wasn't happy with his pay scale, the failure for WWE to put him in a WrestleMania main event, and friction with Triple H and Vince McMahon.
In an interview with Dan Gelston of the Associated Press, Punk detailed how exhausted he was getting near the end of his run with the WWE - and the feelings of despair which helped him decide it was time to leave.
"I was crying out for help. I wasn’t finding it. I really needed to focus on me. Some people want to say it’s dramatic, but I watched friends in wrestling turn to drugs and alcohol and eventually die because they can’t get the help that they need.
I had to force myself to do it and step back. I’m not the one to generally ask for help. So when I finally was doing it, that should have alarmed a lot of people. But it didn’t. I was just one of the cattle."
Punk is set to face Mike Jackson at UFC 225 in his hometown of Chicago, looking to pick up his first win in the octagon. He's had lots of time to get his head right and recover from the many injuries that plagued him in the WWE. At 39 years of age, Punk is hoping to be one of the few talents to successfully cross over from WWE to UFC.
It’s a step forward in the future, toward all the stuff I wanted to get away from,” he told Gelston.
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Though Punk is long gone from the WWE, it's not rare to hear fans in the crowd chant "CM Punk," which visibly frustrates the McMahon family. He was fired on his wedding day with AJ Lee - who admitted she felt caught in the middle and would leave the WWE in 2015.
Many WWE fans may wonder why a beloved and accomplished main eventer like CM Punk would leave the WWE, especially for things like pay and the direction of his character. But with him opening about his struggles with pain and "crying for help," it should help more fans understand why he made the tough but right decision to walk away from the WWE. After all, it was the best thing he could do for himself.
