CM Punk Talks WWE Being Too Scripted, Who Was The Best Wrestler At Working Safe, More
As noted, this week on UFC Unfiltered hosts Matt Serra and Jim Norton welcomed WWE Superstar turned UFC Fighter, CM Punk, to the show. Among other things, Punk discussed the differences between WWE and UFC and he talked about how the best talkers in WWE history improvise their promos.
According to Punk the main difference between WWE and UFC is the fact that WWE performers are supposed to make moves appear impactful, but not make contact at all.
"In [professional] wrestling, you're trying to make it look like you're smashing a guy without actually touching him at all. And somebody who was super, super good at that was Bret Hart. He always made it look like he was killing a motherf–ker and he never was. And there [are] guys that are really, really good at that and there [are] guys that aren't so good at that." Punk added, "some guys are safer than others and that's all I'm saying. I worked my share of unsafe guys and that's not to say they have the mentality that there were going to go in [the ring] and hurt me. Some guys are just clumsy. f–k, I was a clumsy motherf–ker. I was never the most super athletic guy, so sometimes I'd do s–t and f–king end up hurting myself."
Moreover, Punk admitted that he would work lighter on talents he did not like because he wanted to avoid being accused of purposely hitting people harder than necessary.
"The people you actually wind up beating the s–t out of, those are your friends. If I was wrestling a guy I didn't like, I would make sure to go out of my way to not f–king stiff the guy because then there's a problem because he's like, 'oh, you did that on purpose'. If I f–king clock my friend in the face or kick him in the nuts or step on his hand or something like that, it's just funny. You can laugh about it afterwards."
In Punk's view, the best professional wrestling promos are improvised. While some performers need to be scripted, others should be given the freedom to be themselves.
"I think the good ones, the interviews and the promos people remember, those are improv. Now, [professional] wrestling's just overscripted to death. It's almost like they have a chokehold on it. Some guys need to operate that way and I feel like some people need to let loose and be themselves. You've got a whole room of guys writing for you. They don't know you. They don't know where you're coming from. They don't know your perspective or your character and stuff like that. And if you're out there being disingenuous and saying words that three other people wrote, I always felt that the crowd could tell and then they're going to pay attention to their phones or s–t on whatever segment you're in. So yeah, I was always a fan of just kind of doing my own thing."
To listen to the podcast, click here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit UFC Unfiltered with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: UFC Unfiltered