CM Punk has no retirement date in mind, and at 47 years old he says he is more focused on giving back to the next generation than mapping out when he plans to stop.
Speaking on ALL THE SMOKE: Unplugged with hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the World Heavyweight Champion reflected on a career that exceeded nearly every expectation placed on him from the outside and described his current role in WWE as one that carries responsibilities beyond his own performances.
"A guy like me who looks the way I do and acts the way I do and talks the way I do, I think, was in a way never supposed to make it to the WWE," Punk said. "Okay, he made it, but he's never going to be champion. Okay, I was champion. Okay, well he's never going to be the poster boy. I made it to heights that very few people thought I was going to make it. I think when push comes to shove I was definitely maybe one of the only people who believed that deeply and that truly."
Punk positioned himself as someone capable of performing at the top level while simultaneously developing younger talent, a combination he described as rare in any sport.
"The best wrestlers don't always become the best trainers or coaches, just like the best players. I think I'm one of those rare guys that can be both. So what's left for me to do in this business, a lot of it is giving back. Treating the young guys and girls coming up sometimes the exact opposite of the way I was treated."
He also credited himself with helping shift WWE's backstage culture away from the hazing that defined earlier eras.
"A lot of the bullying and the hazing and all that stuff has gone away. And I think I was a big catalyst to help that. Instead of trying to be a hard-ass, I was the one inviting people: 'No, no, you come here, sit here. If anybody messes with you, you let me know.'"
On the subject of retirement, Punk refused to put a number on it. "I don't put a timetable on it because I know it could end like that, any day. What I'm really proud of over the last six to eight months is I've done everything: every Christmas loop show, a full European tour. Everyone keeps telling me, 'Hey man, you don't got to do this.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I get it. I don't have to do it, but I have to do it.' I don't know how many of these I have left in me, but man, I'm going until the wheels fall off."
Punk defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns on Night Two of WrestleMania 42 on April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
