In a candid, yet very PR-conscious interview with GQ, presumably-departing WWE Superstar CM Punk hypes a potential match with Steve Austin as “the biggest match any wrestling company can do right now.”
Punk explains, “I’m straight edge. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t smoke. And that is the perfect protagonist or antagonist to Stone Cold Steve Austin, depending on how you want to spin it. It writes itself. You would have to try really, really hard to fuck that one up.”
The interview aligns with recent reports that CM Punk was eyeing a WrestleMania match with Steve Austin, rumors that carried special weight after Austin hyped Punk’s recent WWE RAW promo as one of the best he has ever seen. Ultimately, however, Austin has given no indication that he is coming out of retirement for such a match.
In addition to remarks on his rise to stardom and Randy Orton-esque mocking of “pro wrestling” as a banned term, Punk also shares an anecdote about how quickly one can transition from a WWE newcomer to a lockerroom veteran.
Speaking about Undertaker, long viewed as one of the “top dogs in WWE,” Punk explains, ”
I don’t think the Undertaker was like that when he first got here. Imagine him when he first walked in the building. There’s Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, Hulk Hogan, all these guys. They’re probably looking at him like, ‘Who’s this new kid? I gotta put him over tonight?’ I’m sure he was quiet, too. But then eventually, all these people fall to the wayside.”
He then provides a more contemporary example, “We were just in Australia, and somebody on the babyface bus comes up to me and says, ‘Cena was at an appearance this morning, so do you know who was on the babyface bus with the most seniority? Kelly Kelly.'”
