CM Punk Calls Wrestlers “Stupid And Selfish” For Not Having A Union
CM Punk has some strong opinions when it comes to unions in pro wrestling.
The talk of unions in the entertainment world has gotten a lot of attention this year. There was a writer’s strike that affected the television and movie business that lasted for about four months until recently being settled.
There has also been the SAG-AFTRA featuring the actors union wanting more money, benefits, and assurances about the future from Hollywood studios. That has been going on since July 14th, which was over three months ago. That strike has led to WWE legend John Cena appearing on Smackdown over the last two months since he doesn’t have acting work to do.
When it comes to pro wrestling unions, it has been a discussion that has gone on for decades, but there isn’t a union, nor does there appear to be one any time soon.
CM Punk, who turned 45 years old today, talked to 670 The Score in Chicago about why pro wrestling needs a union and why it happened.
“For professional wrestling. Yeah. Wrestlers should 100% have a union. Like grip hasn’t been able to supplement their income in any other way. For professional wrestling. Yeah, 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. It’s just the way it is. There’s always going to be somebody else around the corner who wants what you have or possibly just doesn’t want you to have what you have. And they will do whatever a promoter wants you to do for less money. And that’s unfortunate. You know, the boys never stick together.”
Wrestlers are “never going to stick together” according to CM Punk
As he continued to talk about unions, Punk spoke about the NHL, which he’s a big fan of and how pro wrestling is different.
“I think it’s a lack of places to work. And it’s really like a wage gap disparity thing. It’s like a class war when your boss is a billionaire, and you don’t want to rock the boat, so to speak. And this isn’t in wrestling. I think this can be applied to anything more often than not. People will just want to keep their heads down, not get in trouble, and just kind of go about their day.”
“And because, for better or for worse, a lot of people have mouths to feed. There’s people with kids, there’s people with families. They’re taking care of other people and they can’t afford to lose their job. Fortunately for me, I’ve never been that guy. I’m always just kind of like, yeah, I don’t need I don’t need the money.”
“So this is wrong. And I get to tell people it’s wrong. I don’t think the platform that I have is worth anything. If I don’t speak from the heart about issues that I feel are important, you know?”
To wrap up the union talk, CM Punk was asked if he had researched about how wrestlers could form a union.
“I have researched, probably not as extensively as I should if I was actually going to act on this. I’m just me. You know, there’s strength in numbers. And if it were to ever happen, just like it’s happened when any other time, people have risen up and created a union or strive for better working conditions for workers. It has. It has to be a group of people. People have to stick together. And wrestler wrestlers are just never, ever going to stick together.”
CM Punk was fired by AEW in early September. He is a free agent now but only had a vague response when asked if he would be at WWE Survivor Series in his home city of Chicago.