10 Wrestlers You Can Tell HATED Working For WWE

2. CM Punk

CM Punk The Rock
WWE.com

News of CM Punk's January 2014 WWE departure shocked the wrestling world - but in retrospect, it wasn't altogether surprising.

Punk last appeared in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. His performance in it was telling. Punk was notoriously protective over his status as a main event talent; he raged at the request to perform job duties for The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at consecutive big shows.

He held the (subjective) belief that he was every bit the star they were. The very nature of that complaint is debatable, but one thing is categorically certain: none of those men, nor the wider company, benefitted from Punk laying on his back any more than Maria did. They were already established in the very top tier. Moreover, they weren't around to capitalise on the momentum. Punk wasn't even a stepping stone; he was just a scalp. In Pittsburgh, a visibly tired Punk surveyed entrant #20, El Torito, with a withering scorn - only to take a hurricanrana from the comedy little person act. The Punk who knew what he was worth would have rejected that pitch outright. The Punk who cared would have rejected that pitch outright.

The Punk who kicked the cats in the live crowd, the guy who could only smirk at Triple H's ego massages - he had no f*cks left to give.

Contributor
Contributor

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!