CM Punk is focused on his upcoming fight at UFC 225, but the former wrestling star still knows a thing or two about life in WWE.
As such, he gave Ronda Rousey some advice before the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion made her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in April.
“The only thing I told her was to just have fun,” Punk said Wednesday, according to MMAFighting.com. “I don’t know what it’s like back there in this current environment. I know she’d probably get treated differently, just as I know I probably get treated differently here.
“The only thing I ever told her is, ‘I know you’ve got a lot of people telling you, do this, don’t do this — whatever you do, when you go out there for WrestleMania, make sure you have fun. Period.’ ”
Punk, who left WWE on bad terms in 2014, subsequently signed with UFC and lost his first fight against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September 2016. He’ll face Mike Jackson, who’s also 0-1 in his professional MMA career, this Saturday at UFC 225 in Chicago.
Rousey, meanwhile, transitioned from UFC to WWE, making her debut with the wrestling promotion at the Royal Rumble in January before participating in her first match at WrestleMania. She’s scheduled to face Nia Jax for the WWE Raw women’s championship at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event on June 17.
Obviously, there’s a natural connection between the two athletes given their respective histories in both MMA and professional wrestling. Their friendship dates back to when Punk was in WWE and Rousey was dominating UFC, though, hence the former’s advice leading up to WrestleMania 34.
That said, Punk admits he didn’t watch Rousey’s debut match, in which she teamed with Kurt Angle to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. And it sounds like the professional wrestling scene really isn’t Punk’s cup of tea anymore despite constant speculation over whether he’ll someday return to the squared circle.
“I saw a couple of clips here and there (of Rousey’s match),” Punk said, per MMAFighting.com. “And still, when I say it’s hard for me to watch wrestling, it’s not like an anxiety thing, it’s not like an, ‘ugh, I can’t do it.’ I literally, I can’t get through eight seconds without being like, ‘OK, umm, can I change the channel? I’m bored, I gotta watch something else.’
“It’s like going to a baseball game at CitiField. I like Wrigley Field, it’s old school. Going to a baseball game at CitiField, it’s like a guy gets ball four and they blow off fireworks and there’s LED screens on everything.
“Wrestling now is completely like that. There’s LED screens everywhere and there’s flashing lights and I feel like I’m gonna have a seizure.”
Perhaps Punk and Rousey someday will be co-workers, either in WWE or UFC. For now, however, they’ll support each other from afar, willing to provide advice whenever necessary.
