CM Punk interview with IGN; Prefers being the bad guy

[Crayo]

IGN TV: Going into this match, your real life history with Paul, does that fuel the scenario and make things more exciting for you?

CM Punk: Oh yeah, absolutely. It makes it easier in a big way, but it also 100 percent makes it better.
CM Punk stands tall over Brock Lesnar on WWE RAW.


IGN: You’re facing Brock Lesnar, which a very interesting matchup, considering how different you guys are. Are you excited to see how you can bring your different energies to the match?

Punk: Definitely. This isn’t ballet, I’ve always said it. Differences aside, Brock is a physical guy, and I’m a physical guy. So it’s gonna be fun to watch, I guarantee it.

IGN: A couple of years ago, you had your big, career-defining moment, in which you said you wanted to see things change in the WWE. You obviously had your own ascension happen after that. Now that you’re seeing someone like Daniel Bryan also get to the top, do you feel like maybe you have helped turn things in a different direction?

Punk: You know what, that’s not for me to say. I know how I feel about a lot of things. Certain things that I say would maybe sound like a bit of bitterness or professional jealousy or something like that, but that’s not even the case. That’s why I don’t really vocalize it. That dude is here because he paid his dues and he’s good. That’s the same reason I’m here. We’re both a testament to “You love something, you do it, you work hard at it, and you become the best at it.” Do I think I maybe helped change the perception of stuff? Yeah, absolutely. Would he still be in the same spot if I didn’t do that? Yeah, I think so.
CM Punk at the SummerSlam press conference.


IGN: They were showing a clip reel earlier from WrestleMania and it’s always fun to see how things can change in wrestling so quickly. You were a pretty despicable guy a few months ago, stealing the urn and whatnot. Do you have a preference as far as your persona and how you come off to the audience?

Punk: You know, I always like being the bad guy. It just comes more natural to me. I don’t gotta smile, I don’t gotta kiss babies. It’s easier to tell people at airports at four in the morning that I’m not signing their stuff. But the challenge of getting people to like you and not be cheesy and campy and kinda hokey, that I’m really trying to tackle this time around. It is definitely a challenge. But I think there are few people that have started to transcend those lines, like John Cena. People cheer or boo him. Me, people cheer or boo me. Whatever you want, come to the WWE shows and you kinda get to do that.

IGN: You’re a big comic book fan, so I’m curious, what was your favorite comic book movie this summer?

Punk: Ah, geez, you know what? I haven’t seen anything! I haven’t seen The Wolverine yet. I was at the Iron Man 3 premiere and that was a lot of fun. Honestly, it wasn’t a comic book movie, but I gotta throw it out there for Pacific Rim. I saw that, and that was phenomenal. I had no expectations, no backstory, any characters, no famous franchises to deal with -- so I honestly felt like I was watching Star Wars for the first time, it was that fun.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Luckily for Punk he will always be the bad guy in my book.

 

[Danielson]

Punk always has loved being a heel, and he was actually better at it in ROH. I still say his best role is a tweener like the promos he was cutting before MITB 2011. Those were great because he was ripping the company and the fans.

 

[McLovin1]

It's last summer all over again, everybody wants him to be the bad guy then when he finally turns his character becomes stale very fast and everybody wants him to turn face again so on and so forth until the end of times.

 

[Swift]

A douchebag loves to play the douchebag role? Color me surprised.

 

[JC4Life37]

I say let the cat not sign autographs and see what happens... will kids get bitter?...its not like they are really buying his trash anyways

If Punk doesn't sign autographs 'Greg' or 'Dave''s DVD they can go and f*** off.... a grown man shouldn't be asking for another grown man's autograph when they're the same age