8 Things We Learned From CM Punk On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show
6. Punk Admits He Did Some “Dumb” Things
Growing as a human being has been a learning process for CM Punk. When face to face with Steph, the lightning rod with a mountain-sized chip on his shoulder admitted he'd "made mistakes" during his first stint in the company. In a crucial moment, Punk said he doesn't pin full blame on WWE's side for leaving in 2014. He had to do it for his own sanity, because the relationship had become toxic and he was eerily close to becoming one of many wrestlers who destroyed their bodies for the business.
He's also in a very different place in his life now, and is clearly enjoying making peace with the past. That all kicked off when Triple H seized the initiative during an initial phone call between them, and things have been going great since. Looking back, Punk can't say for sure he regrets all of the comments he made about WWE, Hunter, Vince or the McMahon family as a whole, but he can confess he acted like a "schmuck" who was too wrapped up in negativity to keep his mouth shut.
Clips from Punk's various duelling promos with Hunter on TV between 2011-2014 are shown at this point in the show. That added narrative context to what he and Stephanie were talking about for newcomers. None of that is especially new to long-term hardcore fans, but it's worth hearing Punk own up to some of his own nonsense behaviour.
Taking responsibility for his part in things is huge. There's almost no way Punk could've been expected to do that back in 2014 when everything was raw, intense and difficult to compartmentalise. Bonus points to Stephanie for being quick to acknowledge that Punk's departure was more of a 50/50 thing than reported at the time.