CM Punk is undoubtedly an important part of WWE history. However, Punk may not be as important as he thinks he is.
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During a recent episode of Talk is Jericho, Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes talked about the role of leadership in a wrestling locker room. Rhodes divulged that neither The Bullet Club nor The Elite had a true leader. To Rhodes, the idea of someone anointing themselves as chief is likely a fraud.
“No one ever says, ‘I’m the leader.’ The first person who says that….especially, there’s this thing in wrestling ‘the locker room leader.’ Whenever somebody says, ‘I’m a locker room leader’ You definitely know that guy is not the locker room leader. That 100 percent,” he said.
Rhodes’ point sparked a memory of Jericho’s where CM Punk declared himself to be WWE’s locker room leader.
“Do you remember this weird…we had this weird locker room meeting in WWE once where CM Punk said that. Do you remember that?”
Rhodes was hesitant to get specific but did confirm that Punk referred to himself as WWE’s locker room boss “multiple times.”
Jericho recalled Punk would preface his opinions with a self-aggrandizing phrase.
“I remember he said, ‘As the locker room leader.’ And I’m like, ‘You don’t lead me,” said Jericho.
Cody went on to share a story of Punk trying to flex his status in the locker room but no one on the roster took him seriously enough to listen.
“It worked on a certain demo of the locker room,” said Cody. “But there was one meeting where Booker T was in the room and Punk hit the, ‘As the locker room leader, I’m telling you guys all to pick up your trash.’ And Booker literally threw his trash on the floor. And said, ‘He’s not telling me to pick up my trash.’ They had this whole interaction. Glenn [Kane] is the only actual locker room leader. He’s the Mayor now,” he said.
Not long ago, CM Punk was a bit of darling to WWE fans. However, stories like this, plus his jilting of long-time friend Colt Cabana has damaged Punk’s goodwill in 2018. However, that doesn’t keep arenas from chanting his name from time-to-time.
Punk left WWE in 2014 over several reported reasons. Since his departure, Punk entered a lawsuit against WWE doctor Chris Amann, a legal battle Punk won. Outside of the courtroom, Punk has been pursuing a career in MMA. However, he’s suffered back-to-back embarrassing losses in UFC. Punk’s time in the Octagon appears to be done, which has wrestling fans salivating for a potential return to WWE. But the 40-year old emphatically expressed that he’s done with the sport earlier this year and for now, we’ll have to take his word for it.
[H/T Fightful]
