Both WWE and CM Punk were relatively mum on the issue of Punk's departure until November of 2014, when Punk made a pair of appearances on best friend Colt Cabana's The Art of Wrestling Podcast. The Art of Wrestling was one of the first wrestler-hosted podcasts and has long been considered essential listening, but Punk's initial breaking of his silence on episode 226 of the show made headlines across the wrestling world. It was on that episode that Punk gave a detailed timeline of what happened both leading up to and after his exit, and discussed his final meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H. He also accused the company in general (and Dr. Chris Amann, specifically) of not being committed to the health of its superstars, citing a misdiagnosed MRSA infection and poor protocol regarding concussions. Allegations against Amann led the WWE doctor to file a still-pending lawsuit against both Punk and Cabana. While the lawsuit could potentially create a problem for Cabana in the future, the fact remains that he got the coveted first interview with Punk following his friend's departure from WWE. The episodes with Punk did huge ratings for Cabana and undoubtedly made the indy star a lot of money.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
