CM Punk doesn’t struggle to get mentally ready for a major WWE match. At this stage of his career, the real battle is getting his body prepared and making sure it recovers before he has to do it all over again.
Punk opened up about his physical routine while discussing his SummerSlam match against Cody Rhodes on Games with Names. The two had not faced each other in a singles match in nearly 18 years, but Punk said the long gap did not create any mental issues for him.
“How do I mentally get ready for that? I just kind of stay mentally ready. I think physically, at this stage in my career, that’s the harder part—physically getting ready for stuff—and then that defaults to my recovery.”
Punk now puts serious time into keeping his body functioning. Sleep is a major part of the process, along with cold plunges, cryotherapy and red-light therapy.
“I feel like if I don’t sleep, if I’m not sitting in a cold plunge or doing cryo at least once a day, red-light therapy—I try to stay up on everything.”
That wasn’t necessary when Punk and Rhodes were younger. After being shown an old photo of the two wrestlers, Punk admitted his body once recovered without any extra work.
“I was young back then, so I didn’t need to do any of that. I just bounced right back.”
Punk now realizes he may have gotten more out of his body if he had treated recovery like part of his job much earlier. He was training hard during his younger years, but he wasn’t giving the same attention to sleep, treatment and rebuilding his body.
“I got to see that firsthand, and it took me a couple of years, but I always thought, ‘Man, if I would have started it earlier, I would have maybe gotten more out of it.’”
There is no changing the past, but Punk has no plans to slow down his current routine. He believes the work is paying off and helping him continue competing in major WWE matches deep into his career.
“You look at that CM Punk—I didn’t do any of this stuff. I’m overtraining here. I’m doing way too much. Do I wish I would have started a little earlier with treating it like it’s my job? Yeah, 100%. But I’m doing it now, and the dividends are kind of endless. So I’m just going to ride that wave.”
Punk may not recover as quickly as he did when he was younger, but he is putting more work into his body than ever before. The mental confidence is still there, and his recovery routine is what allows him to keep stepping into the ring for WWE’s biggest matches.
How long do you think CM Punk can continue wrestling at a high level with his current recovery routine? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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