CM Punk wants better working conditions for pro wrestlers, but there’s a big reason that he doesn’t ever see it happening.
Punk was a recent guest on 670 The Score in Chicago. He spoke about being a SAG-AFTRA member and being on strike, then was asked about similar benefits for pro wrestling. Punk said he’s firmly in favor of unionizing. However, it will never happen due to pro wrestlers being too selfish to make it happen.
“For professional wrestling? Wrestlers should 100% have a union. And I’ll always say this, and I mean it in the most loving way — wrestlers will never unionize because wrestlers are stupid and selfish. That’s just the way it is,” CM Punk said. “There’s always going to be somebody else around the corner that wants what you have or possibly just doesn’t want you to have what you have. They will do whatever a promoter wants you to do for less money. That’s unfortunate. The boys never stick together. It’s one of the reasons I love hockey so much.”
Strength in numbers
Punk noted how hockey has a union and has acted on certain things, like the league trying to ban Pride tape. The union got that decision reversed, and he wishes wrestling had that. Punk believes a lot of the reason wrestlers don’t speak up is because they don’t want to “rock the boat” and risk losing their jobs for speaking up.
Punk said that luckily, he’s never been like that himself. He then said he has researched striking a bit, but not enough to bring it up on a larger scale.
“I have researched. Probably not as extensively as I should if I was going to act on this. I’m just me. There’s strength in numbers. And if it was to ever happen, just like it when any other time people have risen up and created a union or strived for better working conditions for workers, it has to be a group of people. People have to stick together. Wrestlers are just never, ever going to stick together. It’s sad.”
