AEW’s CM Punk: ‘This is everything I dreamed pro wrestling could and should be’

CM Punk says he is “living in the moment” right now as he performs for a company that is everything he “dreamed pro wrestling could and should be.” 

Punk spoke with ESPN recently and said that while he feels his run in WWE wasn’t what it could have been, he’s now in his prime performing for AEW. 

“I feel like it was kind of wasted,” Punk said of his time in WWE. “It could have been so much more. It should have been so much more. And now, this is everything I dreamed pro wrestling could and should be. And I’m here and I’m f—ing in the moment. I’m not thinking about tomorrow. I’m not worried about s— that happened yesterday. I’m living in the moment and I’m 100% in my f—ing prime, best I’ve ever been.”

Tony Khan says that Punk has become a mentor backstage as well. Not only is he putting a larger spotlight on some of AEW’s younger stars, he’s helping the company’s business grow. 

“CM Punk is somebody who continuously, I think, surprises me, amazes me,” Khan said. “He helped grow our business when he arrived here. I think that, in particular, [he] helped put a spotlight on a lot of the young wrestlers. He’s also been a really good mentor backstage in addition to just helping people’s wallets potentially by getting everybody in a better position in this company, by helping us get more fans, sell more pay-per-views, sell more merchandise. He’s been that guy.”

Dustin Rhodes also commented on how Punk is helping AEW’s roster backstage.

“He is always coaching up the talents when they come back or on their promos or a certain move, saying ‘less is more’ sometimes,” Rhodes said. “Those are very, very important things to learn as a young superstar in the wrestling world. Because you’ve got to take advantage of that. And he is very accessible in that manner.”

Punk continued to say that he wants to do for others what wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Tracy Smothers did for him earlier in his career. 

“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,” Punk said. “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.”

Punk will challenge for the AEW World Championship on Sunday against Hangman Page at Double or Nothing.