CM Punk wasn't going to listen to Vince McMahon in his ear all night while he was on commentary.
WWE commentators discuss all the time how Vince is constantly talking through their headset, whether he is trying to get a point across or giving direction. When CM Punk filled in as a guest commentator for events while injured, he decided he wasn't going to listen to Vince talk in his ear while he was calling the action.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on Oral Sessions, Punk recalled suffering an injury at Bragging Rights 2010 and thinking it would lead to some time off television.
"I'm wrestling on Bragging Rights, it's cold as fuck in the building, and I can't get warm. I tear my gluteus medius muscle, which apparently is very hard to tear. Edge gave me his suplex where I bump on my belly. It feels like a rubber band and my hip pops. I'm supposed to do a leap frog to avoid his spear and I can't jump. I'm just fucked. I get to the back, Dean Malenko checks on me. I get off the trainer's table and I can't walk. I get an MRI and did commentary (while injured). I was always like, 'I'm hurt, why do I have to be on television? Just let me go home.' I flew to Nashville to get surgery. He puts me in his MRI machine, which is more high-tech than the previous one. The first MRI, it looked torn off the bone. His MRI, it was just torn. He was like, 'I'm not operating on you. You just need physical therapy and rehab and you'll be fine.' I was stoked. I needed the refresher and being off TV," said Punk.
Unfortunately for him, he was called to due commentary duty as a way to keep him on television. This is when Punk discovered a dirty secret that seemingly no one else had bothered to do while on commentary in WWE.
"I get home, Vince calls and is, 'Heard you don't need surgery. That's great. I'm sending you a plane ticket and we're gonna have you do commentary.' I was bummed because I didn't want to fly. First night on commentary, Vince started yelling in my headset. I elbowed [Jerry] Lawler, wrote a note to him that said, 'which is the volume button?' He pointed to it and I turned it all the way down. When we took the headsets off after the show, I was like, 'Did you not know you can do that?' [Lawler] goes, 'I knew I could do that, but we're going to get yelled at.' Vince never said anything," he recalled.
Renee, who did commentary on WWE Raw for a year beginning in September 2018 said, "I used to have moments like that where [Vince] would be giving me shit in my ear and I would hear it, but I wouldn't sell it to the camera. He goes, 'DID YOU HEAR ME?!?' I would just stare at the camera like, 'YES! I HEARD YOU!'"
Punk replied, "I found it difficult, trying to do a job, watching the show and call what is going on. If you're yelling at me, it's not helping. So, I just turned him off. I don't know why more people don't do that."
Punk's commentary stint lasted for a month before he returned to action.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Punk discussed wrestlers potentially unionizing. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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