CM Punk recently spoke with RedEyeChicago.com about winning the WWE Championship in Chicago and his love for MMA and the Cubs. Here are some highlights:
Winning the Championship in Chicago: I don’t think it could have gone any better. It’s an awesome feeling and it was a very hostile environment, and I deal well with those kinds of situations. What better place to win the WWE Championship than in Chicago where I grew up and started my wrestling career.
About WWE’s PG-era: I don’t think the WWE is going to go anything but PG. I don’t see the need for the TV-14 rating because that was the past and we are opening new doors to fans across the world. Swearing to just swear isn’t entertaining to me whatever you’re watching. There are some things I get away with, but at the same time I have to remember it is a family-orientated show. I think the product in general is a lot better when we have to police ourselves, knowing that families are out there watching and listening to every word. The so-called “Attitude Era” is not needed in this day in age of sports entertainment.
Being a Cubs fan: I think you have to root for whatever sports team your father rooted for, isn’t that the rules? My father would watch every game, and even if he fell asleep, the TV would still be blaring. Good or bad, he couldn’t change the channel. I don’t think I had a favorite player or one I wanted to be, but I was really fond of the catchers. I grew up playing catcher with my friends and in leagues, so they always drew me in. Jody Davis was a great catcher back in the day and was somebody I always enjoyed watching. But you can’t go wrong with Ryne Sandberg either.
Being a fan of MMA: I remember watching the first UFC. A couple of my friends got together and we heard that it was “no-holds-barred and anything went.” So we ordered the PPV and then later I got to train with Dan Severn in Chautauqua, Ill., and that’s how I fell in love with jiujitsu. I was never the biggest, but I was fast, and look at Royce Gracie, who had the same mold and he was taking out guys who were 150 pounds heavier than him.
