What CM Punk said during his acceptance speech for award at Cauliflower Alley Club event

Following his match against Samoa Joe at the 2023 AEW All In PPV event in London, CM Punk received the Iron Mike Mazurki award on Wednesday in Las Vegas, NV from the Cauliflower Alley Club. Punk gave a 40-minute acceptance speech at the event and here are the highlights…

“The business was a lot different when I got in it but the basics and the fundamentals of professional wrestling are the same as they ever were. If it worked in the 1940s, it could work today, you just have to know how to apply it. The basics and the fundamentals of professional wrestling were taught to me by Ace Steel.”

“Harley Race liked me for some reason and I didn’t get it. Tracy Smothers liked me for some reason and I didn’t know why. I never fit in anywhere before. Eddie Guerrero loved me and I never knew why… I know that throughout my career, I probably rubbed some people the wrong way. Some people like me, some don’t. What I always had was the backing of legends.”

“What means the most to me now is sharing a locker room and having those kids come up to me and they tell me, and I get emotional when they tell me, and they tell me, ‘I saw you sitting cross-legged on a stage in Las Vegas and that brought me back to wrestling.’ And I see a kid come up to me and they show me a tattoo and it says ‘straight edge’ and they say ‘I’ve never done drugs, smoked, drank because of you.’ And to me, just like the stamp of legends, that means so much to me. And if there’s a reason I’m still doing this, it’s that people come up to you and they say ‘You saved my life.’ It sounds a little far-fetched but goddamnit, I understand.” (quotes courtesy of F4WOnline.com)