Headed back to the Chicagoland area for the WWE "Payback" live pay-per-view event this Sunday at Allstate Arena, I talked with WWE Superstar and Chicago native CM Punk about using Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" as his entrance music, singing the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field and more...
In May of 2012, I very unexpectedly had a spur of the moment opportunity to interview then WWE Champion CM Punk at the third annual Dempster Family Foundation Casino Night charity event at the Palmer House Hilton.
At that point, Punk, only months prior, had led one of the more unique and creative angles in recent wrestling memory, one that saw him win the WWE championship on the day upon which his contract was set to expire, the catch being that he had, to that point, refused to sign a new contract with WWE, considering leaving the promotion with the belt instead.
The angle didn't so much begin when he won the title, which he actually went on to trade back and forth with the likes of John Cena as is frequently the pro wrestling style, but a few weeks before when he cut a supposedly unscripted promo for the ages live on cable television, cracking wise on the state of wrestling, firing away on his bosses and ultimately threatening to leave the promotion with the title for greener pastures care of the competition.
It was the type of anti-authority/anti-boss tirade that just about anyone, wrestling fan or not, could relate to on some level and, from there, a media whirlwind began that saw him guest on Jimmy Kimmel, and, amongst other appearances, arrive, title belt in hand, to take in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in his hometown of Chicago while the cameras ate it up.
Eventually, CM Punk would go on to reside over the eighth longest title reign in WWE history, a reign that only recently ended.
Scheduled to return to the WWE this Sunday at the "Payback" pay-per-view in Rosemont at the Allstate Arena in a match against Chris Jericho, my 2012 interview with the Chicagoan and noted music fan hits on topics like his entrance music (Living Colour's "Cult of Personality"), his love of Florida punk rockers Against Me!, an apparent dislike for Alter Bridge (who can blame him?) and much more...
Q. I think the first time I actually saw you wrestle, it was on an AWA card at a high school gymnasium in Joliet. 1999 maybe? I want to say The Iron Shiek, King Kong Bundy and George “The Animal” Steele were also on the card. You’ve certainly come a long way since then so what’s it like in the past ten or twelve years, to have come this far?
CM Punk: I’ve been wrestling for fifteen years and every time I think of where I started and when I get to an event like throwing [out] a first pitch or singing the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field, it really humbles me. I’m not the kind of guy that really thinks I’m a celebrity or feels that I’m important or anything like that. I started wrestling in backyards and stuff and now I’m main eventing Wrestlemania in front of 90,000 people so it’s pretty wild. It feels awesome..... To read more (Click Here)
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