Ken Shamrock Talks CM Punk In UFC At His Age, If Punk Will Go Back To WWE, TNA's Woes, WWE HOF

Ken Shamrock was a guest on this weeks Submission Radio. During the interview, Ken discussed CM Punk's move to the UFC , if he returns to the WWE and his interest in training him, WWE vs. UFC, being in the WWE HOF, rolling with Steve Blackman and his thoughts on TNA. You can watch the full interview in the video above, below are some highlights:

CM Punk going to the UFC:

"I think it's great, I mean especially if he's got the ability. He sounds like he's got a great wrestling background, a really good wrestling background, and a guy like that – don't give him a guy that's a top 10 fighter. That's not fair, but if they'll give him a guy that's got 1-0 as a pro, or 1-1 as a pro, and start him out right like they should have done with Brock Lesnar – They should have probably gotten him [Lesnar] guys that didn't have 15 fights, and that weren't an ex-world champion for him to fight on his first, or second, or third fight – and groom this guy. I think it's tremendous. I mean a lot of guys are complaining "why is he in there?" this and that. Listen, I wouldn't be complaining about why he's in there, I'd be fighting my tail off to get on the undercard or to fight him. So some of these guys that are complaining out there, it's like you guys are really not looking at the big picture here. It's about dollars and cents! If he can put people in the seats and build this business to a bigger model, and be able to put more money into your pockets on the card, why are you getting mad about that? You should be wanting to be on that card. So I think it's a great move on the UFC's part and we will see if it's a great move on his part."

If CM Punk can pick up the skills to be a UFC fighter at such an old age (36):

"If I was training him, I would put my reputation on it. Especially if he's getting the right fighter, somebody of his calibre that doesn't have five fights or ten fights as a pro. If you're going to give him somebody that's around his calibre 1-0, 2-1, something where it's reasonable. Especially with what I know about his background and what he's done before he became a pro wrestler, with his collegiate career and stuff like that – I would put my reputation on it that I could get this guy to win his first fight. Just because I've done it through my whole career. I know how to take guys, I know how to mould them and I know how to beat the specific guy, especially when they don't have that much experience."

If he would train CM Punk:

"I would take that in a heartbeat, because I just know what I could do with him. I know exactly what it would take for him to get a win."

If CM Punk returns to the WWE or stays in MMA:

"I think if he brings the right people in; and I wouldn't suggest him trying to make a long career of the UFC, at least not right now. Not until you get a couple of fights under your belt and see where you're at. Especially at your age. But what I can see is for him to get a couple of fights under his belt, get those wins, and then his career in pro wrestling would sky rocket. But his thing is [that] he's got a lot of people around him right now that think they know what they're doing with him – and they may – but from what I'm hearing, they're trying to teach him a lot of stuff. And you know I'm not going to give away my secrets, but if he brings in the right people this guy could really sky rocket his career in pro wrestling. And if chooses to move on, then he could go for one big pay day and take the shot, and then he could step away. But you're [CM Punk] not going to have a long, long drive at this, because one) you're starting out at such a, you know older age, but you can make an impact in a short amount of time. And like I said, right now in his career where he's at right now, his biggest decision right now is making the right decision on who to bring in. That's the biggest decision right now."

Being any closer to being in the WWE HOF or making an appearance on RAW:

"I'm not sure. You know I would hope so. Like I said, I think that I did enough. I think the proof is in the pudding. The wrestling's definitely not the same that is was before I was there. It's definitely changed since after I was there. So I think that's a statement for itself, and I still believe, you know even though there's a lot of talk back and forth, I think that the people at WWE are professional; and there's a lot of stuff going on with them right now, that they need to maybe step away, take a look at what it is that they're looking at, what it is that is going on, look at the landscape, and try to make the right decision on what's best for the company. And you know what, after everything is said and done, all the stuff that we say to try and hype people up, the bottom line is this, I still believe that there's people there that could make the right decision for WWE. I believe that wholeheartedly, and I believe that they will."

TNA losing their contract with Spike TV and being in a tough spot:

"Well I think they're in a tough spot. I think it wasn't just TNA that was hurting, it goes all the way up the WWF/E. I mean you look at all the way across the board, pro wrestling was really going down. So you know you've gotta look at the landscape for thirty thousand feet up, it just wasn't TNA. It just happened to have the bigger impact on TNA because they don't have that big cushion and didn't have the space to lose any money and to continue to keep working as they were. Whereas the WWF does have that capability. So they [TNA] took – obviously the fans could obviously see a bigger hit on them [TNA] – but WWF took just as much as hard hit as everybody else in the wresting world. "

Rolling around with Steve Blackman:

"I know Steve was a legitimate striker. The guy had great Karate experience, was a good wrestler, and me and him rolled around in the ring for a little while, just to go do some experience, see what he had. And he's a legitimate tough guy, and he is not the kind of guy you would want to meet in a dark alley."