The magic of CM Punk is he's always unwavering in his beliefs. Whether in the middle of the ring, sitting down with his legs crossed with a microphone in his hand, or at a pastry shop in Chicago, he portrays the same image of himself.
His blunt personality has rubbed plenty of others the wrong way and created a rift with management in his first WWE tenure and during his time in AEW. Since returning to the Stanford-based promotion, Punk has been a model citizen and a premier ambassador for the company, but that didn't stop him from taking a subtle jab at his higher-ups in a recent interview.
While on The Ringer Wrestling Show, Punk talked about his dream of main-eventing WrestleMania, which led to a slight diss at his employers. "The reason why I was so obsessed with the main event of WrestleMania is pay scale," Punk said. "If I'm in the main event, I get paid more money. That does not exist anymore. Everybody is on a flat salary, and we get paid stupid money for what we do. And yes, I do think we should all get paid more based on things I see the company doing and shouting from the rooftops about how much money TKO is making, but I'm 46—I don't need money at this point in my life."
Even for a man with a healthy bank account, Punk has a legitimate gripe. TKO is a publicly traded company that is always touting record earnings, yet executives make a disproportionate amount compared to the actual performers.
There should be incentive-based earnings for wrestlers, especially those headlining a PLE. Why shouldn't they get an increased piece of the pie when they are a part of drawing such lucrative gates?
Wrestlers yearning for more power can be a slippery slope—just ask Jesse Ventura. But Punk did a masterful job floating out the topic but quickly shooting it down as a real issue.
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