CM Punk doesn’t think Vince McMahon‘s retirement will meaningfully change anything in WWE.
McMahon announced his retirement on July 22, and WWE subsequently announced that Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon are the new co-Chief Executive Officers. Brock Lesnar reportedly walked out of the SmackDown taping that day when he heard the news, but he still appeared as scheduled during the show. In another substantial shift, on July 25, Triple H was named as the head of creative.
During an appearance at San Diego Comic Con (via Absolute Geek Podcast, Punk shared his belief that McMahon’s announcement about his retirement doesn’t mean he’ll step away from the business, saying, “Just because he tweeted that I’m retired , you think he’s not gonna be hands on and he’s not gonna [stay involved]?”
The AEW World Champion continued by noting that everyone eventually retires, but he doesn’t think the structure or the culture will change. He compared the way WWE handed Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out to the way Brock Lesnar reportedly did the same thing. Likewise, he recalled how the company called him a quitter when he left.
“Sure, we all are, but I don’t think the structure there, I don’t think the culture there changes at all,” said Punk. “I think it is what it is. I’ll put it to you like this. Oh boy, people are gonna be real f—— mad about this, but Mercedes and Trinity leave, and they announce on SmackDown, ‘gosh darn, we’re so disappointed in them and they really let our fans down.’ Brock splits, comes back obviously, he worked the show, but where’s Michael Cole saying, ‘Man, Brock Lesnar really let these fans down’? I walked out, they went on TV and they called me a quitter. What’s changed? What’s the difference?
“You’re gonna attack these two f—— poor women who’ve just kinda had enough and they walk? They got bigger balls than anybody there. So what’s changed? There’s nothing much that’s changed, and there’s people that talk about it, and there’s people that do it. The people who lick their boots and have the audacity to go on live television and say that about those two women. F—— cowards and boot-lickers. That sh–‘s ridiculous. Why didn’t they do it for Brock? They did it for me. I don’t know, it’s none of my business.”
Banks and Naomi walked out of the May 16 episode of WWE RAW, and WWE subsequently suspended them indefinitely. On the May 20 episode of WWE SmackDown, Michael Cole shared the news of their suspension and stated that the duo let the WWE Universe down. Cole and his broadcast partner, Pat McAfee, barely referenced Lesnar’s walkout on the broadcast.
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