CM Punk Talks Feud With Jericho, Relationship With HHH, Brodus Clay's Disappearance + More

C.M. Punk was interviewed by Peter Rosenberg over at Hot97. During the interview, Punk discussed the changing point in his WWE career, his feud with Chris Jericho and his relationship with Triple amongst other topics. Here are the highlights:

On the legendary promo he cut on June 27th, 2011: "[I]t wasn't my design to have this as a platform to even continue my career. I was done. That was my second-to-last Monday Night Raw. You know? I was going overseas the next day — we were doing a tour of Australia and New Zealand — and then we were doing some TV in Boston and then the pay-per-view.

"So, to me, I was like, 'I'm already on the pay-per-view. What are they going to fire me two weeks before I do it?' I figured they were going to take me off the international tour and there was nothing they could do. There was no repercussion for my actions. So I just went out there and spoke from the heart."

On doing what you feel vs. doing what they write for you: "I don't have to do anything that's written. Here's the funny thing; I don't think anybody has to do what's written. Everybody is so petrified to rock the boat or they're not skilled enough to do their own stuff. People get handed stuff and I truly thunk that across the board, it's a suggestion. It's up to you to put it in your words. It's up to you to do what you want.

"There's been times when I get handed stuff and I say, 'I can't do this,' and it changes the entire show. I say, 'Let's do this,' and they listen to me."

On how he views his feud with Chris Jericho: I think it could be very special. If we handle it the right way. Everybody is so fickle, though. I read online somewhere that someone said they're sick of Punk and Jericho already and the genius about that is that we have done anything yet. It's brilliant that [this fan] is already so mad so over this.

On smart/internet fans: "More power to them but you can take any one of those people and give them the position of booker and they would lose their mind. They don't realize the intricate little things that go into putting stuff together.

"On top of that, we worry about ratings in this company which, to me, is madness at this point. Ratings don't mean anything except to the sponsors. Which is why we do it because we want to keep sponsors happy. ... I just think everyone loves being negative. 'Ah! Punk came back too soon. They did this,' and it's like, 'Shut up and enjoy it.' Yeah. I know that sometimes it gets really, really bad. You can be vocal about that. But they don't let anything play out. They almost forget that there's going to be a Raw next week."

On his relationship with Triple H: "It's pretty good, I think. [Laughs.] I mean, you know, honestly, I guess I'll never really, truly know. We have a good, open relationship, I guess. We talk. He's very knowledgeable about the business and he's in a spot that he knows about a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that fascinates me. I pick his brain about that stuff."

On Brodus Clay getting on TV only to be taken off shortly thereafter: "[Triple H] is in a position and now I'm in a position where I can ask him, 'OK. I don't understand why we put a guy like Brodus on TV and then he's off TV for two weeks. Explain that to me, Hunter.' Then he tells me, and I get it.

"We're not just catering to the people that are probably watching this. [Waves to the camera.] We're catering to a much wider audience."

You can check out the entire interview below: