Vince McMahon’s Three-Word Message After CM Punk’s Infamous Pipebomb In WWE Revealed

CM Punk shared Vince McMahon’s reaction to Punk’s epic “Pipebomb” promo from 2011.

The June 27, 2011, episode of WWE Monday Night Raw remains famous nearly 15 years later because of how it ended.

That was the night CM Punk sat on the stage on Raw after John Cena was put through a table in the ring, and Cena lay on the table, listening to Punk, who was wearing a “Stone Cold” Steve Austin shirt.

As he spoke, Punk aired his grievances, complaining that he felt he was unfairly treated by WWE over the previous five years, even though he was a hard-working and popular member of the WWE roster.

In a new 2-hour episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, CM Punk spoke about many aspects of his life and career. Of course, they touched on that Pipebomb promo from 2011 as well.

CM Punk told Stephanie McMahon about his mindset during that Raw promo in June 2011, which was one month before his contract was set to expire.

“I was told this unbelievable thing: ‘I want you to go out there and air your grievances.’ No, you don’t. You don’t want me doing this.

I knew if I told your dad, ‘This is what I want to say,’ he would say no. ‘You can’t say that.’ Okay, I trusted myself.”

Punk spoke about not wanting to do anything that would get him in trouble out of respect for the pro wrestling business.

“My intent was never to do anything like that. Within the confines of the television show that we do, I have too much respect for the business to go so far that I’m burning a bridge for no reason, just to do it.”

Vince McMahon Smelled Money After CM Punk’s Pipebomb Promo

The discussion continued with Punk making it clear that WWE officials approved his promo in some ways, but not fully.

“It was both. It was approved and it wasn’t. It was approved to a degree.”

When Punk showed Vince some of the things he wanted to say, the boss approved it and even suggested something else.

“He read it, and his only feedback was, ‘All right, it’s good. Just make fun of Stephanie.’”

“I was like, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘Yeah, add her in there.’”

As fans will remember, Punk referred to Stephanie and her husband, Triple H, as Vince’s “idiotic daughter and doofus son-in-law.”

Punk admitted that he thought Vince might be furious after hearing the promo.

“The instincts took over. I felt super strongly that this was the way it had to be, so I went out and did it that way.”

Regarding Vince’s reaction after the promo, the boss approved in a big way.

“When I came back, ‘I smell money’ is what he said. At the time, that was the stamp of approval. That was it.”

While summing up the whole Pipebomb ordeal, CM Punk said he learned a lot about the wrestling business.

“That was everything right there. It taught me a lot about business. Sometimes it’s art. Sometimes it’s business. Actually, it’s always business.”

“Sometimes it’s art, if you can get the performance to the point where it’s also art. But you’re also selling tickets.”

Also Read: CM Punk Breaks Silence On Suddenly Ending Sami Zayn’s Undisputed WWE Title Reign