CM Punk Adopted A New Philosophy To Avoid Burnout

CM Punk has had quite the career. He of course has had his share of ups and downs, but what kind of career would it be without a few lows. He suffered these lows in WWE, especially at the tail end of his run there in 2014. He has since emerged after a 7 year hiatus from the business – a hiatus that came about because of his disillusionment with the industry – and he recently spoke about if his return to the industry he once loved was as he expected it to be.

Punk of course would make his triumphant return to pro wrestling in 2021, but quite obviously not with WWE. He landed in AEW after months and perhaps a few years of circulating rumors. That debut in August at The First Dance, broke the mold for debuts and set the tone for what was to come in AEW as the remaining months of 2021 waned on. So many epic stars debuted after this.

It was while he spoke on the Chicago’s Rock 95.5 Radio Show, that Punk spoke about if he was satisfied with his return to pro wrestling, and if it all went according to plan. Essentially, was it all as he expected it to be?

“It’s a lot of work but it’s rewarding work. I tried to tell myself I can’t care as much as I used to because I just burn out. It’s a big reason why I was gone for 7 years, but it’s hard to do what we do at this level without caring. So instead I’ve adapted the philosophy of just leaving everything at work and when I’m not there, I’m not there. I’m spread very thin, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but It’s just when I’m at AEW, I’m there 100%.

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I’m so on that I need the days off that I have between every Wednesday or Friday, things like that to recuperate. The problem is I’m such an a*****e I have like four other jobs and I don’t have time to decompress. So is it everything I thought it would be? It’s that, ten times ten. My barometer of whether it’s all worth it is I look forward to being on a plane. I hate leaving my dog, I hate leaving my wife…

I get excited for road trips because it’s one day and I get to do what I’m falling back in love with and I have fun with it. So yeah, it’s everything I thought it could be and more times ten, it’s challenging but everything that’s worth doing is hard so it’s rewarding.”

Now, Punk is in the longest running feud he’s had in AEW since his aforementioned debut and some consider it to be his best thus far. The scathing promos he and MJF have cut back and forth have built up quite the hype. He is set to face him on Dynamite this evening in Chicago of all places…Punk’s hometown.

Not only CM Punk, but so many others that have debuted in AEW over the last portion of last year came under fire, many feeling that they were being underutilized (Adam Cole as well), but this lengthy feud with MJF is promising indeed.

H/T Wrestling News