10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2014 Facts
5. CM Punk Reportedly Worked With A Staph Infection
The 2014 Royal Rumble was CM Punk's final WWE match prior to his walking out less than 24 hours later. There was plenty of discontent being felt by Punk even before the pay-per-view, and not all of it had to do with the unsatisfying booking that lay ahead. He was also apparently sick as a dog.
In an alarming detail that came out in Punk's appearance on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast later that year, Punk revealed that he had been working with a staph infection since the fall of 2013. He claims that WWE medic Chris Amann prescribed him antibiotics for a painful lump on his lower back up through the Rumble, but that he continued to feel sick.
According to Punk, at future wife April Brooks' behest, he visited her doctor in Tampa, who diagnosed the lump as a MRSA staph infection. Assuming this is true, MRSA is resistant to most antibiotics, and can be contagious. Having gone untreated for months, Punk claims the doctor told him, “You could be dead. You could have died.”