CM Punk Talks Steve Austin, Samoa Joe, WWE Title Design, Facing John Cena Or The Rock & More

WWE Champion CM Punk took part in a Q&A panel at the Chicago Comic-Con last weekend and touched on a bunch of different topics. Discussions included; the current WWE product, wrestling The Rock or John Cena, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, The Undertaker, his most embarrassing in-ring moment, the worst wrestler in the business and much more. Here are some of the highlights:

On the WWE product since his groundbreaking promo: "I don't think I could possibly be as angry as I was back then. I was pretty pissed off. Anger's a helluva motivation. For me to get that angry again, I'd have to be doing something with Rock or something like that.

"It's not up to me whether I think anything's different, it's up to you guys. I said and I've done a lot of things and there are people that hang on every single word. There are people that tweet me and say they're going to kill me because they don't have their ice cream bars yet. I'm working on it, you know.

"I'm trying, I'm at it every day. There's going to be stuff you guys like and there's going to be stuff you hate. Apparently, because of my little promo, people think I write the entire show now. So, when stuff doesn't go there way, they're like, 'It's your fault, you said on the speech that you're going to change things. Girls only get one minute.' Just, enjoy the show is what I'm trying to say."

On changing the design of the WWE championship belt: "Well, in Philadelphia, I was asked this question and apparently, I let some cats out of some bags. I won't say I got in trouble because I didn't, but I got talked to. I would like to give everybody a new title and I would like it to be mine.

"Once again, it's a work in progress. Cross your fingers. Maybe Summerslam, maybe afterwards. I think the pay-per-view after Summerslam is in Boston. So, you never know."

On whether he would rather face John Cena or The Rock: "I would like to wrestle The Rock for the chance to one up John. Trust me, me and John have a very friendly game of one-upsmanship. I hope nobody takes this as a knock and that somebody tries to take this as a positive, but I don't know if there is anybody on that level. I wish there were more people and I hope somebody steps up. Yeah, I'd like to fight Rocky and walk in the back and go, 'Haha, my match was better than yours, John.'

"But, I think it's something special when C.M. Punk and John Cena are in the same ring. So, that at WrestleMania, I think you're going to see that eventually. I don't know if it's this year or next year. Maybe even a 3-ways — and I hate 3-ways. But a 3-way John Cena, The Rock and C.M. Punk would be pretty cool."

On the impact of social media, including Tout and Twitter and the future of the business: "Honestly, for how much we beat it to death with Twitter and Tout and how much hardcore fans groan about it: that's where it's going. Twitter, to me, makes you able to communicate with people you wouldn't be able to communicate.

"I do it. You know what I mean. I'll tweet something and then somebody forwards it to somebody else and the next thing you know, I'm talking to Ed Brubaker, my favorite comic book writer. Imagine that.

"So, you guys get to talk to me or who ever else you want to tweet to. That's the future. I don't think Brad Pitt has a Twitter. I don't think Al Pacino has a Twitter — but that would be awesome if he did though. I'd be annoying the hell out of him all day. You guys can reach out and ask us questions. You're not always going to get a reply, but the opportunity is there.

"I think wrestling was made for social media. How many people have ever brought a sign to a wrestling show? Why do you bring signs? Because you either want the wrestlers to see it or you want to go home and watch it on TV and be like, 'There I am, there's my sign. Yes!'

"That, to me, is what Twitter is, that's what Tout is. It bring you into our world and it makes you a part of the show. Obviously, there are some bugs to work out. I would prefer not to hear 'Tout' every ten seconds on Raw, but that's just me. There's a lot of good in it and we just like to over-do things some time."

On who he thinks the worst wrestling in the business is: "I got this question in Philadelphia and I think in Philly, I said it was Elijah Burke. I'm not on a crusade to bash anybody, it's just from my experience working with him, he never got it. I don't know, maybe he's improved. I haven't seen him work in quite some time.

"That's, I guess, my stock answer. I mean, I could say Lex Luger. ... Shockmaster was alright, man. You remember him, right? ... Sorry, Elijah, it's nothing personal. You just kind of stink."

On his most embarrassing moment in the ring: "Off the top of my head? You know my entrance, where I come up with one foot on the top (rope) and one foot on the middle (rope) and I scream a bunch of jibberish? It was a dark match, thankfully, but I know it's going to come back to haunt me because this stuff always does. We record everything.

"I got up to do that and Cena was standing in the corner. As I jumped up, my foot just didn't touch the top rope and it shot out from under me and I legitimately crotched myself. I was just laughing too hard and I just blamed it on John. That was up there."

On whether or not he will face Steve Austin at the upcoming WrestleMania: "Well, I think he just had knee surgery, so that should answer your question. ... I can't speak for Steve, nor would I want to. I can only speak for me. Rock comes back and says he wants a shot at the title, I'll take on The Rock. If Steve wants to come back and take me around the block, I will gladly, gladly do that."

On what independent star he would like to see in WWE: "Samoa Joe. ... You said indie scene, didn't you?"

On JTG's recent tirade on Twitter: "He's hiding behind Twitter. I guarantee you he didn't go backstage and say any of those things. To come out a do it on Twitter is kind of weak. There's a billion people backstage that you can go and air your grievances to say the guy that went and did it on live TV. That's nothing I wasn't saying to Vince to his face for months.

"I think there's a lot of room and upwards mobility there. I don't think complaining on Twitter is going to make it any better."

On whether or not he'd be interested in taking on The Undertaker at WrestleMania: "Yeah, I would. But, the funny thing about that is that it's almost a foregone conclusion. It would be an uphill and I love challenges but — 20-0 is a nice round number. I don't know if he wants to go 21-0 or 22-0."

You can check out the entire Q&A below.

Comments

Recommended