CM Punk Says He'd Give Up His Second Chance In A Heartbeat For Bret Hart To Have A Run

CM Punk loves Bret Hart.

CM Punk was away from professional wrestling for seven years. In the interim, many new wrestlers have come through the ranks and credit him as inspiration. Now fully back in the world of wrestling, CM Punk has had time to reflect on what the wrestling world means to him now that he has a second chance.

Great-O-Khan Retires KOPW Championship

Speaking on the post-show media scrum following AEW Revolution, CM Punk became very emotional when discussing the Ring of Honor ties to his Dog Collar Match against Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

"I'm sick of crying. Today has been brutal. The first time I cried today was when they showed me my ring jacket and they replaced the skull with the silhouette of Larry," Punk explained. "After my match, somebody came up to me, I don't need to say who, and they said, 'You're going to hate me for saying this, but I do this because of you.' I saw Straight Edge Society and I was blown away. I went to WrestleMania to watch you and Rey Mysterio. I'm in wrestling because of you. I didn't know this particular individual got into wrestling because of me."

Relating it to his own fandom, CM Punk spoke openly about Bret Hart and how much he loves Bret Hart's body of work. CM Punk would say that he would give away his second chance at wrestling for Bret Hart to have a proper final run.

"I'll put it to you like this. I love Bret Hart. His career was cut short and it's a God damn tragedy because there are people that go over to Saudi Arabia and get paid millions of dollars and that should have been Bret. I feel super fortunate and grateful and appreciative that I got a second chance. I'd give it up in a heartbeat to give it to Bret, but I'm going to enjoy it. I just love that motherfucker so much. He's the greatest. He was right. Bret Hart is always right," said a very emotional CM Punk.

During the same media scrum, CM Punk also spoke about how happy he is that Tony Khan now owns Ring of Honor. Read more here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a H/T and link back to Fightful for the transcription.

Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.