What Happened When CM Punk Met Robin Williams

CM Punk has an insane story about meeting Robin Williams!

by Andrew Pollard
CM Punk Robin Williams
FOX

Ever heard the one about the multiple-time World Champion, the legendary comedian and the punk rock frontman?

Speaking on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, CM Punk has detailed a brilliant, bonkers story about how he briefly met Robin Williams at the home of Rancid’s Lars Frederiksen – and how the Second City Saint ended up on the receiving end of a Superfly Splash from the Academy Award winner.

As Punk explained:

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“There was one time I was sleeping upstairs in Lars’ house and, I like to sleep, ladies and gentlemen. To this day, if I don’t have to get up and do anything, I don’t got to set an alarm, I’m a free spirit. Do you know what I mean? I don’t got planes to catch. I did a whole lifetime of that, so I just sleep until I wake up. And I was doing that at Lars’. I woke up because somebody had jumped on top of me while I was sleeping, and as I wake up and I turn around I’m like, ‘It’s f**king Robin Williams.’”

On how Williams decided to channel Jimmy Snuka, the Straight-Edge Superstar elaborated:

“This is the first time I’ve ever met Robin Williams and, I think, the story goes, he was just like, ‘Oh, the wrestler, he’s sleeping upstairs right now?’ Lars was like, ‘Yeah,’ and Robin being who Robin is, is like, ‘F** yeah, let’s Jimmy Superfly Snuka this mother**ker’. So he runs up and he splashes me in the bed. I wake up and I immediately think it’s Lars, so I just start charging after him. Halfway through running down the stairs, I’m like, ‘I’m pretty sure that’s Robin Williams,’ but I don’t give a f**k, I’m going to get this mother**ker now. I half-ass tackle him up and I’m airplane spinning Robin Williams.”

How did this encounter end, you ask?

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“I just put him down and he’s like, ‘I got to go,’ and just f**ks off and runs away.”
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.