CM Punk’s trainer has had enough of the steroid accusations, and has spent three minutes on Instagram itemizing exactly what the 47-year-old actually does.
Punk’s physique has been a talking point for months, since a transformation that began in the weeks before WrestleMania 42. A section of the audience has drawn the obvious conclusion and said so loudly, which is what prompted Jay Ferruggia to post a video rejecting it.
Nothing has been reported by any outlet. Punk has not been accused of anything by WWE, has not failed a drug test, and no report exists suggesting otherwise. The accusations originate entirely with fans on social media reacting to photographs.
“CM Punk is on steroids, or so says the weak-minded, lazy internet. CM Punk is working his a** off. From day one when he reached out to me, he has done every single thing that I’ve asked him to do.”
What followed was a list rather than a defense.
“He’s on vacation in Hawaii, checking in with me every single day. Sending me pictures, sending me his meals, his macros, his weight, his temperature after meals. Sending me videos from the gym, taking naps, getting enough sleep. Getting morning sunshine, taking the supplements I tell him to take. Never missing a workout. Doing more than I ask him. I have to hold him back.”
“Getting his cardio in, weighing his food. Buying rice cookers, buying scales, being all of that with him on the road. Eliminating all the s*** from his diet. Training harder than ever, smarter than ever, better than ever. Dialed in at a level that most people could never comprehend.”
Ferruggia has been coaching for three decades and put Punk near the top of everyone he has worked with.
“30 years in this business, CM Punk is working as hard as anyone I’ve ever worked with. He’s as dedicated as anyone.”
He also questioned the evidence being used against him.
“You’re gonna sit here and post after post, CM Punk is on steroids, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, half these pictures are AI and the other half are from being in the gym with great lighting and a great pump.”
His explanation for the visible change is that it is not extra size so much as less of everything else.
“How is he making progress like that? Again, he’s doing every g**damn thing I told him to do. He’s working his a** off. He’s gotten significantly leaner, and when you get leaner, you look bigger. He’s training in a different way. Honestly, he’s making almost newbie gains. It’s surprising me, but I know what’s going on. I know all the things he’s doing. I’m with him, I spend time with him, I talk to him every single day.”
“Just because someone’s getting somewhere and accomplishing something that you can’t, that doesn’t mean they’re taking shortcuts and cheating. You are just lazy.”
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This is not the first time somebody has stepped in. Cezar Bononi, the former WWE and AEW wrestler who now works as a fitness coach, posted a video of his own in April after a fan on social media made the same claim about a set of Punk photographs. Bononi called the accusation absurd, said he saw nothing in the physique that pointed to steroid use, and asked how anyone making the claim would know without access to Punk’s bloodwork. He credited Ferruggia by name. His wider point was that people reach for the accusation because it diminishes something they cannot do themselves.
Ferruggia is a strength coach who has worked with athletes across several sports and hosts a long-running podcast on training and performance. Punk approached him in the weeks before WrestleMania 42.
Punk is the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion. He returned on the July 6 episode of Raw in his hometown of Chicago and beat Sami Zayn for the title, then retained against Cody Rhodes on the opening night of SummerSlam on August 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, after Randy Orton returned for the first time since WrestleMania 42 and hit Rhodes with an RKO.
