C.M. Punk rejected Vince McMahon's apology from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's WWE Network podcast during the second installment of Punk's podcast interview with Colt Cabana released Thursday.
After laying out the timeline of how his termination was handled by WWE, Punk said, "I'll address it. If the apology was sincere, you wouldn't use it as a publicity stunt on Austin's podcast. You have my phone number, you have my address, you could text, you could call, you could show up when you're a 10-minute f----- drive my house and apologize to me like a man. And that's the f'n reality of it."
Punk said he did not want Part 2 to turn into responding to what McMahon said on Austin's podcast, but he felt it was necessary after seeing how McMahon addressed WWE sending Punk termination papers on his wedding day in June.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but that was not a sincere apology. He knew about it since June. Why didn't he apologize in June if he really felt bad about it? He just wanted to make sure a TV camera was on him so he could damage-control it. 'Oh gosh, I'm really sorry.' Well, if you were, you would have apologized earlier. If you really wanted to talk to me, you would have responded after I got hold of everyone in the office," Punk said.
As part of explaining the timeline of events, Punk also addressed the sentiment from wrestlers like Chris Jericho who have gone away for a period of time before returning once things cooled off after a few years. Punk noted one big difference in his mind - Jericho wasn't cut on his wedding day.
"I can see his point of view, but I say, they didn't fire you on your wedding day. They didn't purposely and maliciously try to ruin a day that is supposed to be special to everybody. It's your wedding day," Punk said before addressing the notion that the timing was a coincidence.
"I don't want to hear, 'Oh, it's a coincidence. Oh, the lawyers didn't talk to Talent Relations.' I talked to Hunter on the 11th, on the 13th FedEx'ed overnight I got a document that was dated the 12th. My wife (A.J. Lee) asked for that time off so that she could (a) get married, (b) go on her honeymoon. The weekend after her honeymoon, she was back on TV. I don't want to hear, 'Oh it was a coincidence.' ... That's the f------- timeline, ladies and gentlemen. I was sick and hurt, and sick & tired, and burnt out, and I walked. And, I can do that because I'm an independent contractor."
The timeline extends to this fall season, especially as it relates to why Punk decided to record the podcast now to tell his story.
"I was fired on my wedding day (June 13), I got my settlement signed papers on my birthday (October 26), and I gave back to the fans on Thanksgiving (November 27)." Punk said the only reason why they could not record the podcast sooner is because Cabana was in Japan in October, then Punk was in Los Angeles in early November. Punk said he was ready to record the podcast right away to get his story out there and move on with his life.
As for why he's able to tell his story without fear of legal ramifications from WWE, Punk said he feels no legal threat from WWE after they settled the terms of his exit.
"If they (talent contracts) were (worth something), they wouldn't have settled. They would have held me over a f------barrel and I wouldn't be doing this podcast. I waited until all the legal b.s. was out of the way, I never sued them, it was all about a settlement. Lawyers didn't jam anything up; they expedited the process. Now I'm a free guy," Punk said. "Look at (Alberto) Del Rio, bless his heart. I love the guy. He's wrestling other places now. You know why? You can't put a no-compete clause on an independent contractor. Period."
[ LINK: Part 2 of Punk's podcast HERE ]
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