CM Punk Reveals The Best Part Of His Return: ‘F*ck Buyrates’

It's a busy weekend for CM Punk, who will challenge Hangman Page this Sunday at AEW Double or Nothing for the AEW World Championship. It will be Punk's first crack at a world title since 2013, but the AEW star has more on his mind than just becoming a world champion.

Punk sat down with Marc Raimondi of ESPN to discuss his upcoming AEW World Title match and a variety of other subjects. Chief among them, Punk was asked what about AEW drew him back to wrestling after his seven-year hiatus from the profession, and equally as important, what has been the best part of wrestling since he had returned.

"F*ck buyrates and million-dollar gates and everything. That's what this s*it is about. What's the best part?" Punk asked rhetorically. "The best part is making these new relationships and showing guys what a lot of guys never showed me but should have: to not be a dick to these kids who just want to be pro wrestlers ...

"There's people that I shared locker rooms with that I wish I could have just talked to like a normal person and picked their brain. But everybody is like so guarded. I literally just want to show them I'm an open book. I'm here. I'm walking around all day [backstage]. Whatever you need, I'm literally here for you. It's a full-time job, baby. Literally. But I love it."

Since his return to wrestling, Punk has had matches with a ton of AEW's young stars or up-and-coming talents, such as Darby Allin, MJF, Powerhouse Hobbs, John Silver, Max Caster, Lee Moriarty, and Daniel Garcia. Punk has stated several times in the past how one of his goals was to help bring young AEW talent along. Hobbs and Allin were featured in the ESPN article as well and they both praised Punk profusely for the positive impact he's had on their careers.