I thought I was in a sullen mood, and then I come out here and I see all of these signs and I hear all of these people. The truth is, I have a huge decision to make. We, if I may, have a huge decision to make, and I’ve been thinking about it all week. And the reason I’ve been so consumed and worried about it is because I love you guys. But the truth is, this town and this building specifically hasn’t always historically been kind to CM Punk. I walk back here through the hallways, there’s a lot of ghosts, ladies and gentlemen, and I’m doing my best to face them head on. A lot of people might not know this, but I debuted in this building. Yeah, was anybody there? I had Mickie James on my arm. True story: we walked down that ramp, we got into the ring, and it was so good. I went back and they said, "we’re sending you to Louisville, Kentucky; have fun in OVW." And gosh, I didn’t want to go, but while I was there, I embraced being uncomfortable, and I learned how to love it. Exactly like when I came to the WWE for the first time. Man, I didn’t know what I was in for, but I embraced being uncomfortable, and I learned to love it. I triumphantly returned to this town, this same building, World Heavyweight Champion. I was ready to put on a show for everybody here. And then, Randy Orton kicks me in the head backstage, and I wake up and they tell me, "by the way, we stripped you out of the title, you couldn’t compete, you’re no longer the champion." And I was like, "Cleveland! Again?!"
Was anybody here ten years ago, for the story I’m about to tell? I'm not going to bore you with details, because a lot of it is in my rear-view mirror. I’m focused on the future, I’m focused on the now, I’m focused on everybody here in this building today. Ten years ago, I had to take myself off the hamster wheel. I had to, for better or for worse, make the hardest decision of my life. And I don’t regret it. I don’t look back. But there was always that part of me that wondered if anybody paid a ticket to see CM Punk that day I walked out Cleveland, if they were disappointed. Backstage, I saw a young lady by the name of Indi, and she told me that she felt betrayed as a little kid. And I told her a story of when I saw Roddy Piper appear on WCW Television. And as a young wrestling fan, I felt the exact same way, so I understood. So, if you’re here now, if you're watching at home and you were disappointed that CM Punk walked out, I understand, and hell, ladies and gentlemen, I apologize.
I’ve gone to SmackDown, and I’ve listened to what Nick Aldis has to say. He put together a very substantial offer, you understand. I went down to NXT, I hung out with Shawn Michaels. And there’s a 15-year-old CM Punk somewhere in the universe who’s tickled to death that he got an offer from Shawn Michaels to help mold the next generation of superstars. It’s a great deal. Adam Pearce has put together a deal that, honestly, is head-and-shoulders above both of those other deals. But can I be very real, and very honest with you folks right now? My mind was probably already made up when I looked at the calendar, and I saw Cleveland. I'm here to bury those ghosts, I’m here to right a few wrongs. My future starts now.
You couldn’t write a better television show, ladies and gentlemen. Ten years, almost to the day, CM Punk walked out. And regardless of how you feel about it, CM Punk walks right back in. And if you’re happy about it, if you’re mad about it, you better learn to love it, because congratulations, Adam Pearce, the newest Raw Superstar is named CM Punk. And CM Punk is home.
More from this episode
All quotes from this episode →More WWE Raw quotes · These quotes come from Wikiquote's WWE Raw pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.