CM Punk warned people not to follow him back to his hotel after WWE’s Las Cruces live event, but a mother now claims he “mad-dogged” her 6-year-old son simply for recognizing him in the lobby.
Punk posted a since-deleted Instagram Story one day after the New Mexico show. He thanked the Las Cruces crowd for bringing the noise before adding a very direct message about his hotel.
“Ahi for breakfast. Breakfast of champions. Please do not follow me to my hotel. Las Cruces, you were lovely! Loud and fun. See you all soon. Albuquerque on deck! Thank you.”
Punk did not identify anyone in the post or explain what happened after he left the arena. His warning made it sound like someone had tracked him from the WWE event to the hotel where he was staying.
Ringside News has now learned more about an encounter involving a family and their 6-year-old son, Matthew. Footage obtained appears to show Matthew’s mother explaining that the family did not follow Punk from the arena and was not hanging around the hotel hoping to catch wrestlers. According to her account, they were already casually spending time in the lobby when Matthew happened to notice Punk.
The boy recognized the WWE star and became excited, but Punk allegedly wanted nothing to do with the family. While Punk was under no obligation to stop, pose for a photo or sign an autograph, the mother claimed his response went beyond simply asking for privacy. According to a family member, Punk “mad-dogged” the family after the 6-year-old noticed him. The mother walked away from the encounter with a harsh lesson for her son.
“Don’t meet your heroes.”
Her version creates a very different picture from Punk’s deleted warning. Instead of a family chasing him through Las Cruces and tracking down his hotel, the mother claims Matthew spotted Punk by chance while they were already inside the building.
As of this writing, Punk has not publicly addressed the mother’s accusation or explained what he believed happened at the hotel. Punk has dealt with uncomfortable hotel encounters before. After WrestleMania 42, Ringside News covered a 9-1-1 call connected to one of two confrontations involving him at the MGM Grand. That situation was separate from the video showing Punk knocking a fan’s phone away while he was near Bayley and AJ Lee.
Wrestlers deserve boundaries after leaving the arena, but allegedly staring down a 6-year-old for recognizing you is not the same thing as dealing with an aggressive autograph hunter. Based on the mother’s story, Matthew did not chase Punk anywhere—he simply noticed one of his heroes standing in the same hotel lobby.
Do you think CM Punk should have handled the encounter with 6-year-old Matthew differently, or was he justified in shutting down all interaction at the hotel? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
