1. He Says That He Hates Wrestling, But Wrestling Has Set Him Up For Life
Phil Brooks has, from all accounts, never lived an extravagant life. He's not a big spender. But he would have been paid very well for his last contract with the WWE, when he was a bona fide main event star. He's got to be a millionaire, when you factor in his downside guarantee, PPV and house show bonuses (and he worked more house shows than anyone else at one point), and of course merchandise sales. Punk is keen to point out that his merchandise outsold John Cena merchandise for one period of time (although of course Cena beats Punk when it comes to all time sales records). In short, unless he makes some terrible investment choices or develops an awful gambling habit or something, Phil Brooks will never have to work again. Whereas most of us go to work because we have to earn money to pay our bills and live our lives, Punk is doing what he wants to do, because he can. He's training in MMA. He's writing comic books. He's not writing comic books to earn money, he's doing it because it's a passion of his. But without his success in wrestling, none of that would be possible. Those doors wouldn't have opened. It's clear to see that Punk has fallen out of love with wrestling, and given how he has been treated, if what he says is accurate, nobody can really blame him. But would it be too much to acknowledge that, while he has walked away from it now, wrestling has given him a life that he could never have previously dreamed of?