CM Punk comments on Paul Heyman’s betrayal at the WWE WrestleMania 41 PLE
In an interview with Deadline.com, WWE star CM Punk discussed his WrestleMania 41 PLE main event match against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Here are a few highlights…
DEADLINE: Although there were three competitors total, the match was leaning heavy on you and Roman Reigns. Was this intentional?
PUNK: I think it’s something that people haven’t seen a lot of. They’ve seen me and Seth, they’ve seen Roman and Seth. So the new coat of paint on things is me and Roman going at it. He’s been on top since I left, so part of me wanted to show him, “Yeah, you’re on top, because I wasn’t here. Now I’m back, and I belong exactly where I was when I left, exactly where you’ve been for the last 10 years.”
DEADLINE: There were also chairs involved, which isn’t the first time for you or Roman. How did it change the whole match?
PUNK: Yeah, everything changed, the complexion of the match changed there. Maybe that’s why my back hurts? [Laughs] It’s funny when you go through a match like that, and while it’s happening, you’re thinking, “Okay, that one’s gonna hurt tomorrow morning,” but you forget unless it’s some big traumatic thing that severely injures you. You just reminded me he hit me with a chair, so he’s got receipts coming.
DEADLINE: What would you say hurt more, getting hit by the chair or Paul Heyman’s betrayal?
PUNK: Very good question. Heyman has betrayed me before. We’ve been friends for a very long time, and friends fight. Since he’s betrayed me before, he knows how this plays out. He knows there’s receipts coming for him, too. The betrayal and the mental pain, I think, are worse than the physical. I almost wish he would’ve done all that and stuck with Roman, because going with Seth was the real pain. But you know what? Seth needs him.
DEADLINE: With all the external stimuli and the adrenaline pumping, do you keep it going afterward, or do you need time to recover?
PUNK: I’m 100% an introvert, and I think a lot of my fellow entertainers are too. Everyone’s always shocked, or they tell me that I’m not [an introvert], but I know me. For every hour I spend with people, I need two hours by myself. So when you’re having this intimate moment with 61,000 people, I live for those moments, but I need to balance and decompress afterward. That’s why when I get invited to cool spots to eat and stuff like that, honestly, that’s the last thing you want to do after that. I went back to my hotel with four or five friends, and we ordered everything on the room service menu and just sat around the table and bullshit like family. That’s how I decompress from all that adrenaline.