CM Punk says he wanted to make recent triceps injury ‘the best thing that’s ever happened to me’

CM Punk reflects on the injury that kept him out for most of 2024.

On the Nightcap podcast, Punk was asked about the worst injury in his career. He brought up his recent injury back at last year’s Royal Rumble when he tore his right tricep, keeping him out of action through SummerSlam.

“I had a night where, woe is me, I cried about it, I was upset,” he said. “I had just come back to the WWE after ten years of being gone and was looking forward to doing, you know, just awesome, awesome stuff. And it came to a screeching halt. As somebody who is active every day, you guys know if you can’t play, if you can’t go to the gym, you lose your mind.  And I lost my mind. I felt bad about it for about eight minutes, had a cry, and then realized that at that moment, it felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to me, so I wanted to do the impossible and flip it and make it the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Punk said that although he was injured, he was still able to contribute by cutting promos and continuing storylines.

When asked if he wanted to help backstage or start his own promotion after retirement, Punk flatly denied the idea of starting his own promotion, but said he was ready to help contribute as part of his third act in professional wrestling.

“If I start my own promotion I want you to find me wherever I am and just kick my a–,” Punk said. “That’s about the worst idea, man. I do think there is an avenue for me to continue to be in the business behind the scenes helping, but I think if you’re worth your weight you do that now…three parts to a career, right? You start and to me, that’s when you learn. There’s the middle part, that’s where you earn, and the third part is return, now you give back. So I definitely look forward to that third act.”

Punk is set to face Seth Rollins on this Monday’s Raw, which will be the first episode streaming on Netflix.