Former WWE superstar CM Punk. (Provided by WWE)
The fans may still chant “CM Punk” at WWE events, but don’t expect to see the former World Wrestling Entertainment champion back in the ring any time soon. If ever.
The former pro wrestler, whose real name is Phil Brooks, ripped into his old employer when he broke his silence about his decision to leave on the latest released Thursday.
“I’m the … happiest I’ve been in … at least three years, legitimately,” Brooks said on the podcast. “I find these other things that have made me happy and this thing I thought I loved, it just made me so miserable.”
Brooks, 36, talked about a variety of factors leading to his departure, from his frustration with the company’s direction to having his ideas taken and repackaged for other wrestlers to not being able to have time to recovery from injuries.
At one point, he talks about how the WWE’s traveling doctor ignored his complaints of a lump that formed on his back for months. After making his last appearance on WWE during its Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Jan. 26, Brooks listened to his wife and visited a doctor in Tampa.
“He just looks at it, cocks his head sideways and goes, ‘That’s a full-blown staph infection,’ ” Brooks said.
The full interview runs about two hours, but is totally worth listening to for fans of pro wrestling.
