History TearJerker / CMPunk

* This one sentence after Chris Jericho poured liquor all over him:

** The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "Fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry]].

* 2022 had been going Punk's way in AEW, with him defeating MJF in a dog collar match at ''Revolution'', winning the AEW World Championship from "Hangman" Adam Page at ''Double or Nothing'' and then being announced he would be defending it against Hiroshi Tanahashi at ''Forbidden Door.'' And then on the June 3 edition of ''Rampage'', Punk announced [[https://youtu.be/IvsZ0hVlM8U that he was injured and needed surgery]], and thus would not be wrestling for some time. During the entire promo, Punk is visibly fighting back tears and the camera shows people in the audience who are openly distraught at the notion that Punk needs to take time off. The only saving grace is that he vowed to make a full recovery and come back better than ever.

* Very shortly after Punk's epic showing at the ''2024 Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' -- his first major WWE pay-per-view event in a full decade -- the sad news came forth that he suffered a triceps injury during the match that was severe enough to require surgery, forcing him to miss out ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XL'', which he was slated to headline. While this is far from the worst bump in the road for him physically, just the idea of Punk, hot off of [[HesBack making the seemingly impossible return to the company]] only to be forced to miss its biggest event of the year due to a stroke of bad luck, hit much of the wrestling world hard. While addressing the matter on the following ''RAW'' while in a sling:

* Very shortly after Punk's epic showing at the ''2024 Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' -- his first major WWE pay-per-view event in a full decade -- the sad news came forth that he suffered a triceps injury during the match that was severe enough to require surgery, forcing him to miss out ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XL'' -- which he was slated to headline -- something that he himself would confirm on the following ''RAW'' while in a sling. While this is far from the worst bump in the road for him physically, just the idea of Punk, hot off of [[HesBack making the seemingly impossible return to the company]] only to be forced to miss its biggest event of the year due to a stroke of bad luck, hit much of the wrestling world hard.

** It's kind of sad to think about the fact that a guy that was so talented, and put so much of his heart and body into the business, became so burned out that he was quoted as having said that he had no passion left for wrestling, and indeed only found happiness by leaving the industry altogether. He probably had the sort of talent, stability ([[UsefulNotes/StraightEdge owing to his relatively cleaner lifestyle]]) and mental acumen to pour into the business for ''decades'' in some form or another, but he wants nothing more to do with wrestling.
** The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry]].

* 2022 had been going Punk's way in AEW; defeating MJF in a dog collar match at ''Revolution'', winning the AEW World Championship from "Hangman" Adam Page at ''Double or Nothing'' and then being announced he would be defending it against Hiroshi Tanahashi at ''Forbidden Door.'' And then on the June 3rd edition of ''Rampage'', Punk announced [[https://youtu.be/IvsZ0hVlM8U that he was injured and needed surgery ]] and thus would not be wrestling for some time. During the entire promo, Punk looks to be on the verge of tears and the camera shows people in the audience who are openly distraught at the notion that Punk needs to take time off. The only saving grace is that he vowed to make a full recovery and come back better than ever.

* It's kind of sad to think about, particularly if you watch his early career back now, that a guy that was so talented, and put so much of his heart and body into the business, became so burned out and disillusioned that he's quoted as having said that he had no passion left for wrestling, and indeed only found happiness by leaving the industry altogether. He probably had the sort of talent, stability ([[UsefulNotes/StraightEdge owing to his relatively cleaner lifestyle]]) and mental acumen to pour into the business for ''decades'' in some form or another, but he wants nothing more to do with wrestling.
* The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry]], never to return...
** ...Or so we thought. While Punk's return to wrestling in [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] is more awesome and heartwarming, there was a small linger of sadness too when Punk spoke about the circumstances in which he had to leave. When Punk tries to apologizes for leaving the fans while recalling just how bad his life had become while working in WWE, he's visibly trying to not break down. Also one of the rare moments in that legendary entrance and promo when the crowd goes silent aside of a few "nooo..." telling him he doesn't have to apologize for anything and that they understand.
*** His return in and of itself was a TearJerker of a happy variety both for fans as well as for the man himself. Fans in his home arena of Chicago's United Center (which AEW had spent extra money to book ''specifically'' for this moment) were seen in tears in the crowd as Punk walked out to one of the most deafening pops of modern times, looked around, surveyed the scene, and dropped to his knees for about a full minute, almost as if he had come back to sacred ground. It was apparent that the moment had healed something within him, maybe finished a process he'd been working through for years.
** His return to the scene in 2019 through ''WWE Backstage'', which was welcomed with the most open of arms by the Internet, does provide a bit of a silver lining to his story in WWE even if only for his WWE fans.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crying_cm_punk_guy_4.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:For one moment, everything felt right in pro-wrestling when CM Punk came back.]]

** Thankfully, his return to the scene in 2019 through ''WWE Backstage'', which was welcomed with the most open of arms by the Internet, does provide a bit of a silver lining to this story.

* The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry]], never to return.

** Thankfully, his return to the scene in 2019 through ''WWE Backstage'', which was welcomed with the most open of arms by the wrestling community, does provide a bit of a silver lining to this story.

* The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry]], never to return.
** Until he did. And what did he do when he returned. He said one line, putting a twist in a famous quote from Wrestling/RoddyPiper, one of the industy's most beloved figureas and a man he always credited as one of his major inspirations. Maybe, just maybe, the spark was not fully extinguished...

* The details of the end of his wrestling career in 2013-14 as described by Punk himself in the Amann court case are tough to hear. Punk, whilst WWE was seemingly going out of its way to cut his momentum off at the knees from a booking standpoint, was suffering from a laundry list of physical ailments (which most people knew already) but was mentally shattered to the point where he would break down crying before and between matches. It's not the least bit of a stretch to say that the physical and mental condition described by Punk during this time period fits many of the criteria for ''clinical depression.'' In fact, the court transcript describes Punk as [[TryingNotToCry visibly choking up]] even recounting his last year-ish as a pro wrestler on the witness stand. It becomes somewhat easier to understand (if it wasn't already) why Punk literally went, "fuck this" and just walked out of not just WWE, but the entire wrestling industry, never to return.