CM Punk would like to see better communication between WWE’s backstage staff and its wrestlers when it comes to giving and receiving feedback.
During his appearance on Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, Punk was asked to name one thing he would change about WWE. After talking about wanting more variety and more performers willing to take chances, he landed on what he called his “controversial answer”: people treating feedback more seriously.
“I’ll say the controversial answer now. I would like to see more people be a little more serious about things,” Punk said. “And instead of happy to be here, I would like more feedback given to people coming through the curtain instead of just, ‘Yup, it’s fine.’ Because some people chase the hug and they come back and they’re just like, ‘How was it?’ They want to be told, you know?”
His bigger issue was where wrestlers look for that validation. Punk said too many performers judge their work by the online response instead of the crowd in the building.
“But I always say, well, get off your fcking phone. You’re looking at Twitter to see how your fcking match was. Did you listen to the people? Because that’s your instant reaction. That’s your boss when you’re out there. I don’t give a sh*t what somebody on Twitter says about your match,” Punk said.
Punk pointed to the gap that can exist between the live and online reactions, where a wrestler can get a strong response in the arena and then open their phone to negativity. He said the crowd in front of them should come first. Punk added that he does not have a TikTok account and walked away from Twitter years ago, and while he admits he spends too much time on his phone, he mostly uses Instagram to look at pictures of dogs and food.
Asked whether the problem sits more with the talent or the people behind the scenes, Punk said both sides can share the blame. He wants producers and agents to deliver feedback in a way that stays constructive without tearing anyone down.
“I think it can be both in some situations. I think sometimes some people don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. So I think they need to figure out a way to communicate things [in a positive way],” Punk said. “Because we’ve all been there. ‘Hey, do you got anything for me?’ ‘Yeah, man, your fcking punches suck and you should fcking quit the business and burn your boots.’ You know, like, okay, that might be a little much. But if you’re earnest in your seeking knowledge, like, ‘Oh, my punches suck. Okay, how do I get better?'”
He tied that to his own start in the business, recalling how he drilled his fundamentals as a teenager. “Because I was a 15-year-old kid working at a comic shop that made a ball of tape and hung it from the ceiling and sat there and punched it 10,000 times a day,” Punk said.
Punk said the fix has to run in both directions, and he noted that WWE’s lighter live-event schedule makes those reps harder to come by.
“I want the producers or agents to really focus on helping and giving constructive, positive feedback and showing things instead of just saying things. And I also need the talent to be sincere in wanting to get better and grow and keep an open mind and different perspectives on how to receive that information and then apply it,” Punk said. “A big problem obviously is we don’t do as many live events. So it’s harder, but I think the people who really want it will figure it out.”
