CM Punk provides update on recovery from triceps surgery

  • Ian Carey
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CM Punk addressed his injury status at UFC 298 on Saturday. 

Following the event, Punk spoke with Caroline Pearce of TNT Sports backstage at Anaheim’s Honda Center. He was asked about his recent surgery, return to WWE, and WrestleMania 40. 

When asked about a potential timeline for return, Punk responded that they are looking at about six to eight months. 

I’m a clumsy idiot and I tore my left triceps about two years ago so the right one was jealous. I’m like an old car, I’m like a 72 Nova, you know what I mean? We have to change some parts every now and again. Once we fix up all the parts, the engine is still strong, we’ll still be good to go.

We’re thinking maybe six to eight months but I’m not really in a rush to get back to compete, I’m in a rush to get healthy, I’m in a rush to get better and the sooner I do that the better I’ll be when I come back. 

Punk was also asked “what gave him the itch” to return to wrestling. 

He responded:

I burnt out 10 years ago. I left, I did some other things. I got to do a lot of cool other stuff and then time heals all wounds. You slowly start to realize that a lot of the stuff that happened 10 years ago doesn’t matter, different people come and go, different people are in charge now, maybe I can go back and it kind of fits like an old slipper. It’s good to be back and I’m super happy it happened. And the way I came back and how big it’s been never could have been what it was without all the other crap. So, that’s just life. I woke up this morning, so it’s a good day. 

Punk also commented on The Rock’s return to WWE. 

I think it’s fantastic. 10 years ago I was the guy that was wrestling The Rock when he came back and now 10 years later he’s coming back and I think the landscape has completely changed. WrestleMania is two nights now, it’s even bigger. Him coming back only helps. I always say high tide raises all ships. I’m just happy that even though I’m hurt, I’m still going to kind of be in the mix. My mouth still works, so I’m going to still be able to talk some trash. 

I don’t know if you saw the kickoff we did in Vegas with Rock and Roman and Seth and Cody, it was a lot of fun and I hope to just continue to do that while I’m recuperating because I can always just talk trash with the best of them. 

Steve Austin recently addressed a potential WrestleMania match with Punk sometime in the future. During an interview with ESPN to promote WWE 2K24, Austin didn’t rule out the possibility, saying “I like Punk, and I think Punk likes me — so, as long as he can take a [Stone Cold] Stunner [laughs]. I consider him a great friend, a great guy and a great wrestler who’s had a great career. We’ll see.”