Arn Anderson has discussed CM Punk and his unhappiness in WWE around the time of the famous ‘pipebomb’ promo in 2011.
Speaking on his ARN podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer was discussing the 2011 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. During that event, Punk competed in the Chamber match to determine the number 1 contender for the WWE Championship. John Cena would win the match going on to challenge The Miz at WrestleMania. Later in the year, Punk’s career would hit new heights as he sat cross-legged on the stage on Raw.
Anderson commented on the ‘pipebomb’ promo:
“He [CM Punk] was getting over but Cena was their guy…I knew that that [the pipebomb promo] was him expressing his real views. It’s too strong to not be.”
“That’s one of those things that I think that the ‘brain trust’ said ‘let him go say what he wants.’ I don’t know if they expected it to go that far but they’re still talking about it today.”
Arn Anderson then detailed Punk’s unhappiness around this time and how he noticed Punk was quiet in the locker room:
“He was dinged up and he was working hurt and that bothered him some too. He needed to get well. I know he was unhappy for a number of reasons. It was never one of those things where I sat down beside him and said ‘okay, what’s bugging ya?’ I would just go by, see that he wasn’t joking, he wasn’t stretching out, he wasn’t kidding around, or wasn’t doing anything like that. He would just kind of be wherever he was, kind of to himself. I would just ask him ‘you alright?’ he’d go ‘ahh, I guess’ and I wouldn’t question it. That’s a guy’s personal space. If he wanted to let me in he would have said ‘hey, sit down, let me ask you something.'”
Anderson then discussed the general feeling in the locker room about the WWE Champion at the time of WrestleMania 27 in 2011.
Anderson stated:
“I knew something was going on because he was positioned well on the card. I would say there was a lot of talent at that WrestleMania [XXVII] that were p****d that Miz was in that spot. During that period there was a lot of animosity around and a lot of people that were trying to get over and get in position. When Miz was wrestling Cena I just know that there were a lot of guys that felt that they’ve been in that spot [and] should have been in that spot. If you didn’t want to be in that spot something’s wrong with you. I remember there was some tension here or there.”
In a wide-ranging discussion, Anderson had some strong words for the man behind the original Sin Cara mask in WWE.
Credit: ARN