10 Wrestlers Who Were Driven Out Of The Business

5. CM Punk

Palmer Cannon
AEW

CM Punk was originally driven out of the wrestling business because he'd f*cking had enough of it.

He alleged, to quite the cost, that he had been asked and or made to work through a series of injuries. He was "owed one" when returning to work early and working Chris Jericho at Payback 2013 because Vince McMahon "needed" him for Chicago. He was adamant that he had suffered more than one concussion deeper into the year, and was so depressed, sick and out of sorts that he felt constantly nauseous and sh*t himself in the middle of the ring. He was also convinced that he had a staph infection, which can result in serious trouble, and was disturbed that he was told to swallow a Z-Pak. No wrestling fan will ever read or hear that word without thinking of CM Punk's arse-cheek.

He walked out the day after the 2014 Royal Rumble after telling Triple H that working with him was a boring prospect three years too late.

He was also, allegedly, "voted off the island" by the vast majority of his AEW peers in the wake of Brawl Out. Everybody at All Out who bumped did so in vain. He also ruined a good three months' worth of storytelling, at a minimum, by deliberately scorching the earth entirely of his own volition. He wasn't asked any probing questions.

It was a press scrum. There's more chance of Punk and Matt Jackson doing the Bret/Shawn 2010 handshake on Elevation next week than Tony Khan saying anything there other than "[This wrestler] has been great for us".

 
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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!