CM Punk Reveals He Considered A Six-Month Break From WWE Before The 2011 Pipe Bomb

CM Punk reflects on how The Pipe Bomb changed his mind on a WWE hiatus.

On June 27, 2011, CM Punk cut one of WWE’s most iconic promos of all time. Known as ‘The Pipe Bomb’, the Chicagoan infamously ran down the company from top to bottom, aiming digs at Vince McMahon and John Cena while referencing other promotions. 15 years later, Punk has now pulled back the curtain on his mindset heading into the promo, and how the reaction to it helped him decide against taking an extended break from the ring.

Speaking to Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story?, CM Punk discussed feeling like he’d levelled up in the eyes of management after the Pipe Bomb.

“I remember feeling like I leveled up. I think that’s the big takeaway was, ‘Holy sh*t, alright. Now I’m here. But also, be careful what you ask for because now the hard work really begins.’ I feel like I busted my ass in my career to get to that moment where I was finally recognized. But I knew the rent’s due every day, and I was slowing down. I wanted to take a bit of a break. I was on the road for a very, very long time. I was fortunate. I did every house show, every pay-per-view. I was running hard for a very long time, and looking back on it, 2006 to 2011, it might not sound like a lot of time, but the international tours we would do and everything. And because I think I wasn’t creatively or monetarily satisfied with where I was, I was like, ‘Okay, well, I can take six months off and then I can come back. Let me take a break.’ And then lightning struck with the Pipebomb, and that whole situation, to me, was just magic, and we captured that. It was like, ‘Well, okay, I can either go home and squander this or I can ride this lightning bolt.’ And I rode the lightning bolt and it really made me feel like I had finally leveled up in management’s minds. I felt like I leveled up to the level that my ability was always at. I felt like I worked like this top guy and I was finally kind of recognized as that for the first time. With that came all kinds of other challenges and problems, but as you level up, you realize there’s more levels to go but that’s the main takeaway. That’s definitely how I felt.”

-CM Punk

The Pipe Bomb happened on the road to CM Punk’s match with John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011 in which the ‘Second City Saint’ promised to win the WWE Championship and leave the company the same night. Just a few weeks after the promo, the star captured the gold in front of the partisan Chicago crowd, and, although he was back eight days later, the moment led to Punk having multiple reigns with WWE’s top prize.

Now, 13 years after his loss to The Rock at the Royal Rumble in 2013, CM Punk is once again WWE Champion. Despite it being his first match since WrestleMania 42, the ‘Straight Edge Saviour’ began his third stint with the gold after his victory over Sami Zayn on last week’s RAW.

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As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on CM Punk as soon as we hear more.

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