Since his controversial departure from WWE almost five years ago, CM Punk has oftentimes avoided the topic of professional wrestling and has always answered in the negative when asked if he has any plans to return to the world of sports entertainment. However, the former WWE Champion-turned-MMA fighter did have several things to say about his former employer in a recent interview, including some comments about his good friend Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship victory at WrestleMania 35 .
In his appearance on Stadium’s Sauce & Shram show earlier this week, Punk answered several questions about WWE and WrestleMania , including one that focused on Shane McMahon’s frequent use of Punk’s old nickname of the “Best in the World” to refer to himself. As quoted by Wrestling Inc ., the 40-year-old ex-WWE superstar said that the company is probably having McMahon do this as a way of taking a “little shot” at him, but added that WWE would likely “deny it until the cows come home.”
Talking about WrestleMania 35 , Punk expressed his thoughts on Kingston’s WWE Championship win over Daniel Bryan, telling Sauce & Shram hosts Dave Ross and Tyler Jacobs that WWE should have made Kofi a champion one decade earlier. Punk added that the company’s decision to give Kingston a big push is an example of how it remains “behind the curve” compared to other wrestling promotions.
“It should’ve happened ten years ago,” Punk remarked. “You know, that’s what I’ll leave with. And it’s one of those things where yes, I’m stoked that it happened now, but again, be ahead of the curve instead of behind it.”
As pointed out by Bleacher Report , the 37-year-old Kingston had mostly been used in a mid-card role since he signed with WWE in 2006. While he had recently achieved success and won multiple tag team championships as one-third of The New Day, the Ghana-born wrestler had mostly found it hard to break through in singles competition prior to his surprising top-tier push in the lead-up to WrestleMania 35 .
The party rages ON! #WWEChampion @TrueKofi picks up the VICTORY for #TheNewDay on the #SDLiveAfterMania ! #SDLive @XavierWoodsPhD @WWEBigE pic.twitter.com/mr1KzBZH6b
— WWE (@WWE) April 10, 2019
In addition to Kofi Kingston’s big victory, CM Punk touched on another WrestleMania 35 -related topic during his Sauce & Shram appearance, as he praised Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair for their work in the main event match for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships. He said that the match is an example of how WWE could inspire young girls to aspire for big things in the world of professional wrestling.
While Punk had good things to say about Kingston winning the WWE Championship despite his critical opinion of WWE’s booking, his positive comments about his friend were a stark contrast to the ones made by WWE Hall of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham on Monday. As reported by The Inquisitr , Graham took to Facebook to advise Kingston to “start doing some steroids” so he could add 50 pounds of “solid muscle” to his slender frame, and to watch recordings of his old promos so he could improve his skills on the microphone.
