When it came down to it, Punk walked off the show for several reasons. The financial factors, the creative frustrations and the nagging health were making him hate his job. When he suffered a concussion in the Royal Rumble, it was a breaking point. He knew he needed time off, he knew he was concussed. Yet WWE's testing showed he wasn't concussed. Punk casts doubts on WWE's testing, because he didn't believe that test was accurate. He went to Vince and Hunter the night after the Rumble and expressed his fury. He stated to Vince that he'd created a toxic environment and stifled his character. He reiterated what he'd been saying for months, that he was physically drained and needing time off. Vince tried to reassure Punk, he told them that the concussion was talking and that he'd be in a Mania main event with Triple H. Punk says he then looked at Hunter and said the following -
"All due respect I do not need to wrestle you. You need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to f*cking come in and squash it and then I had to lose to f*cking Truth and Miz. It didnt make any business sense then. It doesnt make any business sense now and Im in a position now where I can tell you that I dont have to and nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania."
Punk reveals he was supposed to win the Mania match, but he didn't care. "I didnt want to give him the f*cking privilege. He says Hunter gritted his teeth and that they'd never been close. There'd always been a tension between them. "I never liked Hunter, Hunter never liked me." Things had broken down on too many fronts and Punk was done. Vince cried and gave him a hug, which Punk responded to by patting the chairman on the back. Hunter extended his hand and the pair had a handshake. And that was it, CM Punk walked out of the WWE. As an independent contractor, he argues that he had every right to do this.
