CM Punk comments on the allegations against Vince McMahon.
Former WWE Champion CM Punk returned to WWE at WWE Survivor Series 2023. Vince McMahon was still with the company at the time, but the former chairman resigned in January 2024 after Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against him in which she alleged that he engaged in sexual assault and sex trafficking of her.
Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, CM Punk discussed his return to WWE, and he was asked whether he had a face-to-face with Vince McMahon.
"I saw him at the towers. Monday before Thanksgiving, get a phone call, we realized we could do this. Nick Khan, ‘If it doesn’t happen by Saturday. Royal Rumble.’ I was like, ‘Nick, I don’t want to give away any leverage in negotiations, but Saturday is the business. It has to happen.’ Hammering out a deal. Saturday, debut. Sunday, I’m at home and I’m like, ‘Man, this is strange. I don’t know what we’re doing, where we’re going, but it feels right.’ I get a call, ‘We should get you travel to TV.’ I fly to Nashville. I went home and I can’t remember where I flew from there, but it was SmackDown. That night they were like, ‘You want to come on the jet and do NXT?’ ‘Yeah, sounds great.’ We’re flying by the seat of our pants and doing this stuff real last minute. I got a tour of the new tours and the gym. I was on the phone, on the treadmill, warming up. Vince’s trainer is like, ‘You have to get off the phone. Vince doesn’t like it when people are on the phone in the gym.’ I was on the phone with Nick. I’m like, ‘Okay.’ I saw him walking down and into the gym. He came in for his daily workout. He gave me a big hug. He said, ‘Welcome home, good to see you. Let’s connect after I work out.’ Haven’t seen him since," Punk said.
Helwani asked to clarify that Punk did not connect with McMahon, and he replied, "No, I think some stuff came up."
Punk was then asked about the allegations against McMahon. He stated that he did not read all of them, but there was no positivity there. Punk noted that he was surprised that McMahon left a paper trail. He also stated that what he thought of McMahon did not mean anything, as he was more concerned about the people who were affected.
"There is no positivity there. I didn’t read all the allegations. I read text messages. I went, ‘Oh, fuck this.’ It’s indefensible. The easiest thing for people to do is ignore it or avoid it. It’s there. My initial, first thing out of my mouth was, ‘I’m kind of shocked at how dumb he was writing stuff down and leaving that paper trail.’ It’s horrific. At this point, all the energy should be used to, I don’t know if you can, but make reparations or amends. There are victims here. What CM Punk thinks about Vince and the CM Punk-Vince relationship doesn’t fucking mean anything. All that stuff takes a backseat. I’m more concerned about going forward, how do those people survive after suffering all of that trauma? That’s my biggest concern," Punk said.
Helwani proceeded to ask Punk whether he thought that the business was better off without McMahon in it, and Punk stated that he did.
"At this point, how do you say anything but yes, the business is better without him," Punk said.
Punk worked for McMahon for many years, so Helwani asked him whether he had an idea of the alleged behavior. Punk stated that he did not, and he drew a comparison to Chris Benoit, and he recalled coming to terms with the murder-suicide.
"No. The biggest thing I can draw a comparison to is when Chris Benoit did a murder-suicide. I was friends with Chris Benoit. I don’t know if it’s just how I process things, but I’m famously on camera weeping, saying goodbye to Chris because, at the time, we didn’t know. We didn’t know he had murdered his wife and son. The week prior, we’re in Alabama, I’m traveling with him, we’re on the road, and he grabs me and runs me into the trainer's room, he points and his son is in the corner taping up his hands and drawing Xs on his hands. Coming to terms with, that’s my friend, he did this horrible thing. Obviously, fuck him, fuck that. I don’t have memories of Chris Benoit traveling with me and murdering people at the gym. There was never any instances where I was in a room with Vince and he’s shitting on somebody or sexually assaulting somebody. We just didn’t see it. There is that part of me that goes, just like Benoit, ‘Okay, I can see that.’ People are shocked their friend or mentor is responsible for doing these horrible things. I guess I’m pragmatic and I looked at it like, ‘I can see that.’ It’s very hard to reconcile. I heard what Becky said. Vince is a father figure to a lot of people. Vince liked and developed those father relationships. That’s why he was always fascinated with me because I was like, ‘Fuck you, I have a dad. You’re my boss. Let’s keep it that way.’ It’s been wild, all that shit. It’s sad. He ruined his life ruining other people’s lives. There is very much a part of me, ‘You got him. Good. Shuffle him into the basement,'" Punk said.
Vince McMahon resigned from WWE and TKO in January 2024. He has denied the allegations against him, but he is under federal investigation.
During the interview, CM Punk provided an injury update. Check out his comments here.
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